-

Bio-
geogr
aphynot
esAl
evel
2015
Bi
ogeogr
aphy
 Thest
udyofor
gani
sms.
 I
tisconcernedwi
tht
heor
igi
nofpl
ant
sandani
mal
sandt
hewayt
heyor
gani
ze
t
hemselves.
 Iti
salsoconcernedwi
tht
hei nt
eract
ionbet
weenor gani
smsandt
heir
envi
ronment,howtheenv
ironmentsupport
sthem andhowtheyi
nturnaf
fectt
he
envi
ronment.
Ecosy
stems
 Anecosyst
em isadi
sti
nct
ivegr
oupingofpl
ant
sandanimals(
biot
ic)thati
nter
act
wit
heachotherandwit
hthenon-
li
vi
ngcomponentorphysi
cal
(abi
otic)ofthe
envi
ronment
.
 Thestudyofecosy
stemsseekstounder
standtheli
nksbetweent
hevari
ous
unit
s/par
ts/
componentsandthetr
ansf
erencesofchemical
sandener
gybetween
them.
 Ecosyst
emsar econsi
deredatanyscal
efr
om asmallarea,
suchasapond
ecosy
stem orhedgeecosyst
em uptoanareasuchastheeart
hit
sel
f.
Thest
ruct
ureofecosy
stems
Thepart
sorcomponent
sofanecosy
stem ar
ecl
assi
fi
edorcat
egor
izedasei
therbi
oti
c
orabi
oti
c.
Bi
oti
cmeanst
hel
i
vingenv
ironmentorpar
tsofanecosy
stem.
Thesei
ncl
ude;
 Veget
ati
on(
li
vi
nganddecomposi
ng)
 Mammal
s,i
nsect
s,bi
rds,
mcr
o-or
gani
sms.
 Peopl
e(whor
arel
yseem t
oli
vei
nhar
monywi
tht
heenv
ironment
)
Thetot
almassofplantandani
mal
li
fei
nanecosy
stem i
scal
l
edt
hebi
omass.
Thi
sis
mainl
ypl
antt
issue.
Abi
oti
cmeansnon-
li
vi
ng,
chemi
cal
orphy
sical
component
soft
heecosy
stem.
Thesei
ncl
ude;
 Cl
i
mat
eandi
npar
ti
cul
art
heseasonal
pat
ter
nsoft
emper
atur
eandr
ainf
all
.
 Ai
rwhi
chpr
ovi
desoxy
gen,
essent
ial
foral
lfor
msofl
i
feandcar
bondi
oxi
de.
  Solarener
gyfrom t
hesun,
whi
chi
sthepr
imar
ysour
ceofener
gyaswel
las
provi
dingheatandli
ght
.
 Rockswhi
chpr
ovi
denut
ri
ent
sandwhi
chmaybeper
meabl
eori
mper
meabl
e.
 Soi
l
swhi
chv
aryi
ndept
h,aci
dit
y(pH)
,nut
ri
ent
sandf
ert
il
it
y.
 Rel
i
efoft
hel
and.
 Dr
ainagechar
act
eri
sti
cs

-
+ +KJ
Thesy
stemsappr
oacht
oecosy
stems
 Ecosy
stemsareopensy
stemsbecauseener
gyandl
i
vingmat
terbot
hent
erand
l
eavethesy
stem.
Anysy
stem hasi
nput
s,out
put
s,st
oresandf
lows.
I
nput
s
 Thesear
ethet
hingsthatgoi
ntoasy
stem.Theyar
eneededi
nor
derf
ort
he
syst
em t
oworkproperl
y.
 Themostimpor
tanti
nputi
sener
gyf
rom t
hesun,
whi
chdr
ivesphot
osy
nthesi
s
andsoenabl
esplant
stogr
ow.
 Ot
heri
nput
sar
eani
mal
sthatar
ri
vef
rom el
sewher
e.
 Wat
er,
transpor
tedi
ntot
heecosy
stem bypr
eci
pit
ati
onorr
iver
s.

Out
put
s
 Thesear
etheproduct
sofasy
stem.Theyar
etr
ansf
err
edoutoft
hesy
stem i
na
numberofways.
 Ani
mal
sphy
sical
l
ymov
eout
.
 Watermov
esoutoftheecosy
stem t
hroughr
iver
s,ev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion,
thr
ough
f
lowandgroundwat
erfl
ow.
Fl
ows
 Thet
ransf
erormov
ementofnut
ri
ent
sfr
om onest
oret
oanot
her
.
 Forexampl
efr
om t
hesoi
ltot
hev
eget
ati
ont
hroughcapi
l
lar
yupt
akebypl
ant
root
s.
St
ores
 Thesear
ethear
easwher
ethenut
ri
ent
sar
econt
ainedorkept
.
 Thethr
eemai
nst
oresofnut
ri
ent
sinanecosy
stem ar
eveget
ati
on,
soi
landpl
ant
l
it
ter
.
Ener
gyf
low
 Eachecosy
stem i
ssust
ainedbythetransf
erofener
gythr
oughit
.Thusener
gy
fl
owisthemovementortransf
erofenergythr
oughanecosy
stem.
 Thesunisthemai nsourceofenergyinanecosystem andisusedtomake
carbohy
dratesfrom car
bondioxi
deandwat ert
hrought heprocessof
photosy
nthesis.I
nthiswaytheplant
sgrowandi ncreasetheirbi
omass.
 Ener
gyi
sthenabl
etopasst
hrought
heecosy
stem i
nthef
oodchai
n.
Foodchai
n
 Isthet
ransf
erofener
gythr
ought
heecosy
stem f
rom pr
imar
ypr
oducer
sto
consumersanddecomposer
s.
 Pl
ant
sar
eeat
enbyani
mal
s,someani
mal
sconsumeeachot
her
.
 I
nt hefoodchai
n,eachli
nkint
hechai
nfeedsonandobtai
nsenergyfr
om theli
nk
precedi
ngit
.Int
urnitisal
soconsumedbyandpr
ovidesener
gyfortheli
nkthat
fol
lows.
 Anexampl
eofaf
oodchai
nis;
Gr
ass goat hy
ena l
i
on v
ult
ure

Foodweb
Recy
cli
ngnut
ri
ent
s/Nut
ri
entcy
cli
ng

Ecosy
stem

 asyst
em,oragroupofinter
connect
edelements,
par
tsf
ormedbyt
hei
nter
act
ion
ofacommunit
yoforganismswiththei
renvi
ronment
.

Ecosy
stem
asyst
em,oragr
oupofi
nter
connectedel
ements,f
ormedbyt
hei
nter
act
ionofa
communi
tyofor
gani
smswiththei
renvi
ronment.

)
.Pl
antSuccessi
on

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Successi onisadi rectional non-seasonal cumulativechangei nt hetypesof

plantspeci esthatoccupyagi venareathrought i
me.I tinvolvest heprocesses
ofcol onization,establishment , andexti
nct i
onwhi chactont hepar t
ici
pating
plantspeci es.Mostsuccessi onscont ainanumberofst agest hatcanbe
recogni zedbyt hecol lectionofspeci esthatdomi nateatthatpoi ntinthe
successi on.Successi onbegi nwhenanar eaismadepar tial
lyorcompl et
ely
devoidofv egetationbecauseofadi st
urbance.Somecommonmechani sms
ofdist urbancear ef i
res,wi ndst orms,volcanicerupt i
ons,l
ogging, cl
imat e
change, severeflooding, disease, andpesti nf
estation.Successi onstops
whenspeci escomposi ti
onchangesnol ongeroccurwi thtime, andthis
communi tyissaidt obeacl i
maxcommuni ty.

Theconceptofacl i
maxcommuni t
yassumest hattheplantscolonizi
ngand
establi
shingthemsel vesinagivenregioncanachi evestabl
eequi l
ibri
um.The
i
deat hatsuccessi onendsinthedev elopmentofacl i
maxcommuni tyhashad
alonghi stor
yi nthefiel
dsofbiogeographyandecol ogy.Oneoft heear l
i
est
proponent softhisideawasFredericCl ement swhost udiedsuccessionatthe
beginningoft he20thcentury
.Howev er,beginninginthe1920ssci enti
sts
beganr efuti
ngt henot i
onofaclimaxst ate.By1950, manyscient i
stsbegan
vi
ewi ngsuccessi onasaphenomenont hatrarelyatt
ainsequil
ibr
ium.The
reasonwhyequi li
bri
um isnotreachedisr elatedtothenat ureofdi sturbance.
Disturbanceactsoncommuni ti
esatav arietyofspatialandt empor al scal
es.
Further,t
heeffectofdistur
banceisnotal way s100per cent.Many
dist
urbancesr emoveonlyapar toftheprev iousplantcommuni ty.Asar esul
t
ofthesenewi deas,plantcommuni t
iesarenowgener all
yseenasbei ng
composedofnumer ouspat chesofv ar
ioussi zeatdiffer
entst agesof
successionaldevel
opment .

AbandonedFi
eldt
oOakFor
est

Oneoft heear li
eststudiesofpl antsuccessionwasdonebyDwi ghtBi
ll
i
ngsi n
the1930s( see1938, EcologicalMonogr aphs8: 437-499).I
nt hi
sinvest
igati
on,
Bil
li
ngsexami nedthesuccessi onofplantspeciesthatoccur redon
abandonedagr i
cult
ural fi
eldsinNor thCaroli
na.Bill
ingsstudiedanumberof
fi
eldsthathadbeendeser tedfrom justafewy earst oamaxi mum ofabout
150y ears.From obser vat
ionsoft heplantcommuni ti
esthatexistedinthese
sit
es,Bil
lingswasabl et oconst ructadetail
edsuccessi onalsequence.

Thef i
rststageofsuccessi onwaschar act
eri
zedbyt hepi oneering
colonizat
ionofannual pl
antspeciesonbar egr oundandnut ri
entpoorsoi ls
(Figur
e9i -
1).Theseannual specieshadshor tl i
fespans( onegr owingseason),
rapidmat uri
ty,andpr oducenumer oussmal leasilydi spersedseeds.The
annual swerethenqui ckl
yreplacedi ndominancei nthenexty earbybi enni
al
plantsandgr asses.Af terabout3t o4y ears,thebi ennial andgr assspecies
gav ewayt oper ennial
herbsandshr ubs.Thesepl antsl iveformanyy earsand
hav etheabil
itytor eproducesev eralti
mesov ert heirlifespans.
 Figure9i-
1:Successionofpl antspeciesonabandoned
fi
eldsinNor thCarolina.Pioneerspeciesconsistofa
variet
yofannual plant s.Thi
ssuccessionalstageisthen
foll
owedbycommuni tiesofperenni
alsandgr asses,
shrubs,softwoodt r
eesandshr ubs,andfinal
lyhardwood
treesandshr ubs.Thi ssuccessiontakesabout120y ears
togof rom thepioneerst agetot hecli
maxcommuni ty.

Af t
erabout5t o15y ears,thesi tesweret hencol onizedbyanumberof
differentsof twoodt reespeci esincludi
ngl oblollypine(Pinustaeda) ,shortl
eaf
pine( Pi nusechinata),Virginiapine(Pinusv i
rginiana),andsweet gum.Ast he
sof twoodsi ncr
easedi nt heirnumber sandgr ewi nheight,theybeganf orming
af orestcanopy .Thiscanopyr educestheamountofl i
ghtr eachingthef orest
floor.Ther esult
ingshadedunder st
orycondi tionscausedt heexclusionof
manyl ightlov i
ngper ennial herbandshr ubspeci es.Lowl ightcondi t
ionsal so
i
nhi bitedt heger minationofpi neseedlings.Per ennialherbandshr ubspeci es
thatwer eadaptedt olowl ightcondi ti
onsnowbegant otakeov erthegr ound
cov er.Thecanopyal sochangedt hemi crocli
mat eofhabitatneargr oundl evel
.
Itwasnowmor ehumi d, hasmoder atedt emper atures,andl esswi nd.These
condi tions,plust hedev elopmentofasoi ll
i
tterlay er
,all
owedf orthe
germinati
onofhardwoodspeci
es,l
ikeoak(Quercusspp.
)andvari
ousspeci
es
ofhickory(Car
yaspp)
.Theseedl
ingsofthesetr
eespeciesal
sotol
erat
elow
l
ightlevel
s.

Byabout50t o75y ear

saf terthei ni
ti
alcoloni
zationofthepioneerspeci es,the
hardwoodsst artedt orepl
acet hesof twoodspeci esinthedev el
opingf orest.
Atthisst agei nt hesuccessi on, t
hepi neshadmax imum hei
ght sofabout25
met ers,
whi l
et heoaksandhi ckorieswer eonav erageabout10met erstall.
Becauseoft hei rshor t
erli
f espans( 50y ear
s),
manyoft hesoftwoodspeci es
werebegi nningt odi eoutandt hegapt hatwascr eatedwast henfil
ledbya
subdomi nanthar dwoodt ree.Har dwoodspeci es,li
keoakandhi ckory,canl i
ve
formor et han100y ears.Sitesmor ethan100y earsoldweref oundt obe
domi natedbymat ureoakf orests.

Or
gani
smi
candI
ndi
vi
dual
i
sti
cVi
ewsofSuccessi
on

I
nt hefi
rstquart
erofthi
scent ur
yther
ewasconsi derabledebat eaboutthe
natur
eoft hecommuni t
y .F.
E.Clements(1916)conceivedoft hecommuni t
y
asasor tofsuperor
ganism whosememberspeci eswer et i
ghtl
ybound
toget
herbothnowandi ntheircommonev ol
uti
onaryhistory.Thus, i
ndi
vi
duals,
populat
ions,andcommuni t
ieshavear el
ati
onshi
ptoeachot hert hat
resemblestheassociat
ionsf oundbetweencell
s,ti
ssues, andor gans.

Clements'theori
esoncommuni ti
eswerealsolinkedtosuccession.His
successionalconceptsuggestedthatcommuni ti
esoforganismsar esubj
ect
tospeciallawsinwhi chtheacti
onofthewhol eisgreat
erthanthesum ofthe
parts,
andt hatthisacti
onresul
tsinadirect
ionalchangeinthespecies
composi t
ionoft hecommuni t
ytoacl i
maxst at
econt r
oll
edprimaril
yby
cli
mate.

Themai nprocessesact ingtopr oducet hevarioussuccessi onal st

agesof
speciesdomi nance,andf i
nallycli
max ,arecompet it
ionandpl antmodi f
icati
on
oftheabioti
cenv i
ronment.Env ir
onment almodi f
icati
on, howev er,i
s
detri
ment al
tot heplantsdoingt hemodi fyi
ng.Modi fi
cationchangest he
envir
onmental lowingtheest abli
shmentofnewcol onists,andt henresult
sin
thesubsequentcompet it
iveex cl
usionoft heformeri nhabitantsbythese
colonist
s.Thisf aci
li
tat
iveprocessst opswhent heclimaxcommuni tyis
reached.

Cl
ement
spr edadet
esent ermi
nist
icuni
dir
ect
ionalv
iewofsuccessi
onwher
e
thepr esentpat terni
sgov ernedbyt hepastpattern.Thephil
osophical
structureofCl ement s'holisti
cappr oachisqui t
esi mil
artoadvancesinot her
sciencesoft hatt ime.Ingeol ogyandgeomor phologytheor
istspresented
viewst hatcont ainedv ari
ousst agesofmat uri
ty,andcompar edlandscape
ev ol
utionmet aphor i
callytoadev elopingorganism.Thepar al
leli
ntheor et
ical
appr oachofthesesci enceswi tht hewor kofClement smaybet her esultof
attit
udespr evalentinsci enceasawhol eatthattime.

In1926, H.Gleason( 1926)dev i

sedanewt heor
yt oexplainthenatureof
communi t
ies.Gleason'sindivi
duali
sti
cconceptsawt herelati
onshipbetween
coexi
stingspeciesassi mplytheresultofsimil
arit
iesintheirrequi
rements
andtolerances(andpar tlytheresultofchance).Takingthisview,communi t
y
boundariesneednotbeshar p,andassociati
onsofspeci eswoul dbemuch
l
esspredi ctabl
et hanonewoul dexpectfrom t
hesuper organism concept.

Gleasonar guedt hatthehol isticv i

ewpoi ntofCl ement swasi nadequat ein
explainingt hemechani sm ofsuccessi on.Forex ampl e,Gl easonsuggest ed
thatCl ement sianconcept scoul dnotpr oper lyexpl aintheoccur renceofsuch
phenomenaasr etrogressivesuccessi ons.Inr efer encet ohi sv i
ewof
successi on, Gleasonst at
edt hat" .
..
.everyspeci esofpl antisal awunt oi tsel
f,
thedi stri
butionofwhi chi nspacedependsuponi tsindividual peculi
ari
ti
esof
mi grati
onandenv ir
onment al requirement s".Thus, associationsofpl ants, or
communi t
ies,wer enothi ghlyor ganized,butaggr egationsofi ndependent
plantspeci es,eachspeci alizedt osurviveonhabi tatstheywer eadapt edf or.
Ret r
ogr essivesuccessi onswer epossibleinGl eason' smodel ifenv i
ronment al
variablesdet erioratedwi thtime, changingt hepat ternofest abli
shment ,
growt handr eproduct i
onofpl antsinahabi tat.Cl ement s' model ,however ,
assumedl ongt erm climat i
cst abil
it
y,andt hisassumpt iondoesnotal l
owf or
shor ttermr etrogr essi
v ecommuni tychange.

Clement sandGl easonpr esent edt wodi amet ri

cal l
yopposedopi nionson
communi tyorganizati
onandst ruct ure.Fur t
heri nvesti
gat i
oni nt hi sdiscussi on
willshowt hatthesev i
ewsar est illpr esentint hehy pothesesofl atert heorists,
butinasomewhatmodi fi
edf orm.Manyoft hesemodi fiedhy pot hesesi nvolve
asy nthesisoftheear l
yideasofCl ement sandGl eason.Thi ssy nthesi sisthe
resultoftheaddi t
ionofnewecol ogi cal i
nformat ionort her e-anal ysisofol d
i
nf ormationonhowecosy st
emsf unct ionov ertime.Thesy nthet icev oluti
onof
successionalhy pothesesmustbeexpect ed, asi nvest
igationf indsnew
mechani smsr esponsiblefortempor al vegetationchangei nar elat i
vely
unexploredwor ld.Theear l
ypr esenceofsi mpl edi ametricallyopposed
successionalhy pothesesintheear lyyear sispr obablyther esul toft he
i
mmat urestateofunder standingoft urnoft hecent ur
yecol ogy .
Centralt
oGl eason'ssuccessionmodel isthenot i
onofabi oti
cand
bi
ot i
cheterogeneit
yinspaceandt ime.Thi sconceptisachar acteri
sti
cv i
ewof
muchofmoder necology.Recentl
y,severalsci
entistshaveex aminedt her ol
e
ofdistur
banceoncommuni tystr
ucture.Theseresear cher
ssuggestt hat
di
sturbancei sacommonpr ocessinmostcommuni ti
esthatshapest he
natureandst ruct
ureofbioti
cint
eracti
onsandpr ocesses.Thesei deasf ol
low
di
rectlyf
r om Gleason'
searlyobservati
onsofpat ternandpr ocessinthepl ant
communi ty
.

Theindi v
idual
isti
cconceptofsuccessi
onoutlinedbyGl easonwasi gnoredby
thescientif
iccommuni t
yforsomet wentytothir
tyyears.Importantpapers
andbooksci t
ingthi
sworkdidnotappearuntilthel
at e1940sandear ly1950s.
I
twast heideasofClementsthatdominatedecologicalthoughtinonewayor
anotherupt ot hi
speri
od.

Ourcur rentviewont henatureofcommuni t

ystructureiscl
oset othe
i
ndividualisti
cconcept.Result
sofmanyst udiesindicat
ethatagi v
enlocati
on,
byv i
rtuemai nlyofit
sphy si
calcharact
eristi
cs,possessesar easonabl
e
predi
ct ableassociati
onofspecies.Howev er,agivenspeciesthatoccursi
n
onepr edictableassociat
ioni
sal soquit
el i
kelytooccurwithanothergroupof
speciesunderdi ffer
entconditi
onselsewher e.

Ty
pesofSuccessi
on

Primarysuccession-istheestabli
shmentofplantsonlandthathasnotbeen
previ
ouslyvegetated-MountSai ntHel
ens.Beginswit
hcolonizat
ionand
establ
ishmentofpi oneerspeci
es.

Secondar
ysuccessi
on-isthei
nvasi
onofahabi tatbyplant
sonl andthatwas
prev
iousl
yveget
ated.Removal
ofpastvegetat
ionmaybecausedbynat ur
alor
humandistur
bancessuchasfi
re,
loggi
ng,cult
ivati
on,orhur
ricanes.

All
ogenicsuccessi on-i scausedbyachangei nenv ir
onment alconditi
ons
whichint urninfl
uencest hecomposi ti
onoft hepl antcommuni t
y .InCornwal
l
England,obser v
ationsont heestuar
yoft heFal ri
versuggestt hatt he
depositi
onofsi ltmaybecausi nganallogenicsuccessi onfrom sal tmarshto
woodland.Measur ement sindi
catesediment at
ionr atesofabout1cm per
yearont hemudf l
at sthatarefound15ki lometers( 9mi l
es)intot heest
uary.
Overthel ast100y ears,thissaltmarshhasi ncreasedi t
selevationandhas
extendedi t
selfseawar dby800met ers(2600f eet).Theadjacentwoodl and
hasf
oll
owedt
hesal
tmar
shbyi
nvadi
ngi
tsl
andwar
dli
mit
.

Autogeni
csuccessi
on-isasuccessionwhereboththepl
antcommuni
tyand
envi
ronmentchange,andt
hischangeiscausedbytheacti
vi
ti
esoft
heplant
s
overti
me.Mt.St.Hel
ensaft
erthelastvol
cani
cerupti
on.

Progr
essi
vesuccessi
on-i
sasuccessi
onwher
ethecommuni
tybecomes
complexandcontai
nsmor
especi
esandbiomassov
erti
me.

Retrogr essi
vesuccession-isasuccessi
onwher ethecommuni t
ybecomes
simplisticandcontainsfewerspeci
esandlessbiomassov erti
me.Some
retr
ogr essivesuccessi
onsareall
ogenici
nnature.Forexample,t
he
i
ntroduct ionofgrazi
nganimalsresul
tindegenerat
edrangeland.

Table9i-
1descri
bessomeofthepl
ant
,communi
ty,
andecosy
stem at
tr
ibut
es
thatchangewit
hsuccessi
on.

Table9i
-1:Compar
isonofplant,
community,
and
ecosyst
em char
act
erist
icsbetweenear
lyandlat
est
ages
ofsuccessi
on

Ear
lyStagesof Lat
eSt agesof
At
tri
but
e
Succession Succession

PlantBiomass Smal
l Lar
ge
PlantLongev i
ty Shor
t Long
SeedDi spersalCharacteri
sti
csof
Wel
ldi
sper
sed Poor
lydi
sper
sed
Domi nantPlants
PlantMor phologyandPhy siol
ogy Si
mpl
e Compl
ex
Photosy nt
heticEff
iciencyof
Low Hi
gh
Domi nantPlantsatLowLi ght
RateofSoi lNutri
entResour ce
Fast Sl
ow
Consumpt i
onbyPl ants
PlantRecov eryRatefrom Resour
ce
Fast Sl
ow
Li
mi t
ation
PlantLeafCanopySt ruct
ure Mul
ti
lay
ered Monol
ayer
 Li
vi
ngBiomass
Si
teofNut
ri
entSt
orage Li
tt
erandSoi
l
andLi
tt
er
RoleofDecomposer sinCy cli
ng
Minor Great
Nutri
ent stoPl ants
Biogeochemi cal Cycl
ing OpenandRapid Cl
osedandSl ow
RateofNetPr imaryPr oductiv
ity Hi gh Low
Communi tySiteChar acter
isti
cs Extreme Moder
ate(Mesic)
-I
mpor tanceofMacr oenv i
ronmenton
Great Moderate
PlantSuccess
Ecosyst em Stabil
it
y Low Hi gh
PlantSpeciesDi versi
ty Low Hi gh
Lif
e-HistoryTy pe r K
SeedLongev i
ty Long Short

Successi
onMechani
sms

Anov ervi
ewoft hemechanismsofsuccessionhasbeenpr oducedbyConnel l
andSl at
yer(1977,Ameri
canNaturali
st111:1119-
1144).Connell andSlat
yer
proposethreemodels,ofwhicht
hef i
rst(f
acil
it
ati
on)i
st heclassical
explanati
onmostof t
eninvokedi
nt hepast,whi
letheothertwo( tol
eranceand
i
nhibiti
on)maybeequal l
yimport
antbuthav efr
equentl
ybeenov erl
ooked.

Theessenti
alf
eatureoffaci
l
itati
onsuccession,
incontr
astwitheithert
he
tol
eranceori
nhi
biti
onmodels, i
sthatchangesintheabi
oti
cenv i
ronmentare
i
mposedbyt hedevelopi
ngplantcommuni t
y.Thus,t
heentryandgr owthoft
he
l
aterspeci
esdependsonear l
ierspeci
esprepari
ngtheground.

Thet ol
erancemodel suggest
sthatapr edictabl
esequencei sproduced
becausedi f
ferentspeci
eshavediff
erentstrategi
esforexploit
ingresour
ces.
Laterspeciesareabletotol
erat
elowerr esourcelevel
sduet ocompet i
ti
on
andcangr owt omat uri
tyi
nthepresenceofear lyspeci
es,eventuall
yout
compet i
ngt hem.

Thei nhi
bit
ionmodel appl
ieswhenall
speciesresi
stinvasi
onsofcompetit
ors.
Laterspeciesgr adual
lyaccumul
atebyrepl
acingear l
yindi
vi
dualswhenthey
die.Animpor tantdist
inct
ionbet
weenmodel sisthecauseofdeathofthe
earlycol
onists.Inthecaseoffaci
li
tat
ionandtolerance,t
heyareki
ll
edin
compet i
ti
onforresour
ces,not
abl
yli
ghtandnutri
ents.I
nthecaseoft
he
i
nhibit
ionmodel,however,
theear
lyspeci
esarekil
ledbyver
ylocal
di
sturbancescausedbyextremephysi
calcondi
ti
onsortheacti
onof
predator
s.

Fr
agi
l
eEcosy
stem Addi
ti
onal
Glossar
y
 Accl
i
mat
ion-adj
ust
mentt
osl
owl
ychangi
ngnewcondi
ti
ons.

 Adaptati
on-anygeneti
call
ycont
rol
ledstr
uctur
al,
physi
ologi
cal
,orbehav
ioral
charact
eri
sti
cthatenhancesmembersofapopulati
on'
schancesofsurvi
vingand
repr
oducingini
tsenvir
onment.I
tusual
lyresul
tsf
rom abenefi
cial
mutat
ion.

 Adapti
veradi
ati
on-peri
odoftime(usuall
ymi l
l
ionsofyear
s)duringwhi
ch
numerousnewspeciesevol
vetofi
llvacantandnewecological
nichesi
n
changedenvi
ronments,
usual
lyaf
teramassext i
nct
ion.

 Aut
otrophi
csuccession-mostcommontypei
nnature;
begi
nsinapredominant
ly
i
norgani
cenvironmentandischar
act
eri
zedbyear
lyandcont
inueddominanceof
gr
eenplants.

 Bar
ri
erisl
ands-Long,
thi
n,l
ow,
off
shorei
slandsofsedi
mentt
hatgener
all
yrun
par
all
eltotheshor
eal
ongsomecoast
s.

 Biol
ogi
caldiv
ersit
y-v ari
etyofdi
ffer
entspeci
es(speci
esdiv
ersit
y),
genet
ic
vari
abi
li
tyamongi ndivi
dualswit
hineachspeci
es(geneti
cdi
versi
ty)
,andvar
iet
y
ofecosyst
ems( ecologi
cal di
ver
sit
y).
 Biome-t
err
est
rialr
egi
onsi
nhabi
tedbycertai
ntypesofl
i
fe,especi
all
yveget
ati
on.
Exampl
esarevari
oust
ypesofdeser
ts,
grassl
ands,andf
orests.

 Bior
egi
on-auni
quel
if
e-pl
acewit
hitsownsoil
s,landf
orms,water
sheds,cl
imat
es,
nati
vepl
ant
sandani
mals,andmanyotherdi
sti
nctnatur
alchar
acter
ist
ics.

 Bi
oticpot
enti
al-maxi
mum r
ateatwhi
chthepopulat
ionofagiv
enspeci
escan
i
ncreasewhenther
earenol
imit
sofanysor
tonitsrateofgr
owth.

 Carr
yingcapaci
ty(
K)-maximum popul
ati
onofapar
ti
cul
arspeci
est
hatagi
ven
habi
tatcansuppor
toveragiv
enperi
odoftime.

 Cl
ear-
cut
ti
ng-met
hodofti
mberhar
vest
ingi
nwhi
chal
ltr
eesi
naf
orest
edar
ea
ar
eremovedi
nasingl
ecut
ti
ng.

 Coastal
wetland-Landalongacoast
li
ne,
ext
endingi
nlandfr
om anest
uaryt
hati
s
cover
edwithsaltwateral
lorpar
toft
heyear
.Examplesaremar
shes,bay
s,
l
agoons,ti
dalfl
ats,
andmangr ov
eswamps.

 Competit
ion-t
woormoreindivi
dualorgani
smsofasi nglespecies(int
raspeci
fi
c
competi
ti
on)ortwoormoreindi
vidual
sofdiff
erentspeci
es(interspeci
fi
c
competi
ti
on)att
empti
ngtousethesamescar ceresourcesinthesame
ecosy
stem.

 Consumer-or gani
sm t hatcannotsynthesizetheorganicnutr
ientsitneedsand
getsit
sorganicnut r
ientsbyfeedingont hetissuesofproducersorofot her
consumers;generall
ydi vi
dedintopri
mar yconsumer s(herbi
vores),
secondary
consumers(carnivores),t
ert
iary(hi
gher-
level)consumers,omnivores,and
detr
it
ivor
es(decomposer sanddet r
it
usf eeders).
 Consumptionov erpopul
ati
on-sit
uati
oninwhi chpeopl
eintheworldori
na
geographi
cregionuser esour
cesatsuchahi ghrat
eandwi t
houtsuff
ici
ent
pol
luti
onpreventionandcontrolt
hatsi
gnif
icantpoll
uti
on,
resour
cedepleti
on,
and
envi
ronmentaldegr adat
ionoccur
.

 Cont
rol
l
edburning-del
iberat
elyset
,car
eful
lycont
rol
l
edsurfacefi
restor
educe
fl
ammablel
i
tteranddecreasethechancesofdamagingcr
ownf i
res.

 Coralreef-f
ormat i
onproducedbymassi vecoloniescontai
ningbill
ionsoft i
ny
coralanimal
s,call
edpolyps,whichsecr
eteast onysubstance( cal
cium carbonate)
aroundthemselvesforprotect
ion.Whencoralsdie,thei
rempt youterskeletons
formlayersthatcausethereeftogrow.Theyar efoundinthecoast alzonesof
warmt ropi
calandsubtropi
caloceans.

 Cr
ownf
ir
e-ext
remel
yhotf
orestf
ir
ethatbur
nsgr
oundv
eget
ati
onandt
reet
ops.

 Debt-f
or -
nature-
swap-agr
eementi nwhi chacert
ainamountoff
orei
gndebtis
cancelledinexchangef
orlocalcurrencyinv
estmentst
hatwil
li
mprovenat
ural
resourcemanagementorpr otectcertai
nareasfr
om harmf
uldevel
opmenti
nthe
debtorcount r
y.

 Deforestat
ion-r
emov
aloft
reesf
rom af
orest
edar
eawi
thoutadequat
e
repl
anting.

 Desert-bi
omewhereev aporat
ionexceedsprecipit
ati
onandt heaveragemount
ofpreci
pit
ati
oni
slessthan25cent i
met er
s(10i nches)ayear.Suchareashav
e
l
it
tl
ev eget
ati
onorhavewi del
yspaced,mostlylowv egetat
ion.

 Desert
if
icat
ion-conv
ersi
onofrangeland,r
ain-
fedcr
opland,
orir
ri
gat
edcropl
and
todesert
li
keland,
wit
hadr opi
nagricult
uralpr
oduct
ivi
tyof10%ormore.I
tis
 usual
l
ycausedbyacombi
nat
ionofov
ergr
azi
ng,
soi
ler
osi
on,
prol
ongeddr
ought
,
andcli
mat
echange.

 Ecol
ogicaldiversi
ty-thevari
etyoff
orest
s,desert
s,gr
assl
ands,
oceans,st
reams,
l
akes,andot herbiol
ogicalcommunit
iesi
nteract
ingwit
honeanotherandwith
thei
rnonli
vingenv i
ronment.

 Ecologicalniche-t
otalwayofli
feorr
oleofaspeci
esinanecosyst
em.It
i
ncludesal lphysi
cal
,chemical
,andbi
ologi
cal
condi
tionsaspeci
esneedstol
i
ve
andr eproduceinanecosystem.

 Ecology-st
udyofthei
nter
acti
onsofl
iv
ingorgani
smswi t
honeanotherandwi
th
thei
rnonli
vi
ngenvi
ronmentofmatt
erandenergy;
studyofthest
ruct
ureand
functi
onofnat
ure.

 Envir
onment aldegradat
ion-depleti
onordestructionofapot ent
ial
l
yrenewabl
e
resourcesuchassoi l
,grassl
and,for
est,orwil
dlif
ebyusi ngitatafast
errat
ethan
i
tisnat ur
all
yrepleni
shed.Ifsuchusecontinues,theresourcecanbecome
nonrenewableonahumant i
mescal eornonexistent(ext
inct
).

 Env i
ronment alscience-studyofhowweandot herspeci esinter
actwitheach
otherandwi t
ht henonl i
vi
ngenv i
ronmentofmat terandener gy .I
tisaholist
ic
sciencethatusesandi nt
egrat
esknowl edgef r
om phy si
cs,chemi st
ry,
biology
(especiall
yecology ),geol
ogy,geography,resourcet echnologyandengi neeri
ng,
resourceconser vationandmanagement ,
demogr aphy(thest udyofpopulati
on
dynami cs),economi cs,poli
ti
cs,andethics.

 Est
uary-par
ti
all
yenclosedcoast
alareaatthemout hofari
verwherei
tsfr
esh
water
,car
ryi
ngfert
il
esiltandr
unofff
rom theland,
mi xeswi
thsal
tyseawat
er.

 Ext
inct
ion-complet
edisappear
anceofaspeciesfr
om theear
th.Thi
shappens
whenaspeciescannotadaptandsuccessf
ull
yrepr
oduceundernew
 envir
onmental
condi
ti
onsorwheni
tev
olv
esi
ntooneormor
enewspeci
es
(speci
ati
on)
.

 Foodweb-compl
exnet
wor
kofmanyi
nter
connect
edf
oodchai
nsandf
eedi
ng
rel
ati
onshi
ps.

 Forest-biomewi t
henoughav er
ageannualpr
eci
pit
ati
on(atl
east76
centi
met ers,
or30inches)t
osupportgr
owthofvar
iousspeci
esoftr
eesand
smallerf
or msofvegetati
on.

 Genepool-thesum t
otal
ofal
lgenesf
oundi
nthei
ndi
vi
dual
soft
hepopul
ati
onof
apart
icul
arspeci
es.

 Grassl
and-bi
omefoundi nregi
onswher emoderateannualav
eragepreci
pit
ati
on
(25to76cent
imet
ers,or10t o30inches)i
senoughtosupportthegrowthof
grassandsmal
lpl
ants,butnotenought osuppor
tlar
gestandsoftrees.

 Habi
tat-pl
aceort
ypeofpl
acewher
eanor
gani
sm orapopul
ati
onofor
gani
sms
l
iv
es.

 Heter
otr
ophi
csuccessi
on-charact
eri
zedbyearl
ydomi nanceofhet
erot
rophs;
occur
sincaseswhereenvi
ronmentispri
mari
lyorgani
c.

 Immatur
ecommunit
y-communi t
yatanearlystageofecol
ogi
calsuccessi
on.It
usual
l
yhasalownumberofspeciesandecologi
calni
chesandcannotcaptur
e
anduseener
gyandcycl
ecr
it
icalnutr
ient
sasef f
ici
ent
lyasmorecomplex,
matur
eecosyst
ems.

 Indi
catorspeci
es-speci
esthatser
veasear
lywar
ningst
hatacommuni
tyoran
ecosystem i
sbeingdegr
aded.
 I
nlandwetl
and-l
andawayf
rom thecoast,
suchasaswamp,
mar
sh,
orbog,
that
i
scov er
edall
orpar
toft
heyearwit
hfreshwater
.

 Keyst
onespeci
es-speci
est
hatpl
ayr
olesaf
fect
ingmanyot
heror
gani
smsi
nan
ecosy
stem.

 Limi
ti
ngfactor-si
ngl
efactort
hatl
imit
sthegr
owt
h,abundance,
ordi
str
ibut
ionof
thepopul
ati
onofaspeciesinanecosyst
em.

 Mat urecommuni ty-fai

rl
ystable,self
-sust
ainingcommunit
yinanadvanced
stageofecol ogi
calsuccessi
on; usuall
yhasadi ver
searr
ayofspeci
esand
ecologicalni
ches;captur
esandusesener gyandcy cl
escri
ti
cal
chemical
smore
effi
cientl
ythansimpler,i
mmat urecommuni t
ies.

 Nat
ivespeci
es-speci
est
hatnor
mal
l
yli
veandt
hri
vei
napar
ti
cul
arecosy
stem.

 Naturalselect
ion-processbywhichapar
ti
cularbenefici
algeneorsetofgenes
i
sr eproducedmor ethanother
sinapopul
ati
on,throughadapt at
ionand
di
fferenti
alreproduct
ion.I
tist
hemajormechanism leadi
ngtobiologi
cal
evoluti
on.

 Ol
d-gr
owthforest-vi
rgi
nandol
d,second-
growthf
orestscont
aini
ngt
reest
hat
ar
eoftenhundreds,
someti
mesthousands,ory
ear
sol d.

 Ov erpopul
ation-stateinwhichtherearemor epeoplethancanli
veonEar
thorin
ageogr aphicregi
oni ncomfort,
happi ness,
andhealthandstil
ll
eavet
heplanetor
regionaf i
tplaceforfutur
egener ati
ons.Iti
saresultofgrowi
ngnumbersof
peopl e,
growingaffluence(r
esour ceconsumpti
on),orboth.
 Pioneercommunit
y-fi
rstint
egr
atedsetofplant
s,animal
s,anddecomposer
s
foundinanareaunder
goingpri
maryecologi
calsuccessi
on.

 Pioneerspeci
es-f
ir
sthar
dyspecies,of
tenmicr
obes,
mosses, andl
ichens,
that
begincoloni
zi
ngasit
easthefi
rststageofecol
ogi
calsuccessi
on.

 Pri
marysuccessi
on-sequent
ial
dev
elopmentofcommunit
iesi
nabar
ear
eat
hat
hasneverbeenoccupi
edbyacommunityofor
ganisms.

 Ri
pari
anzones-t
hinstri
psandpat
chesofveget
ationt
hatsurr
oundst
reams.
Theyar
everyi
mportanthabi
tat
sandresour
cesforwil
dli
fe.

 Secondarysuccessi
on-sequent
ial
devel
opmentofcommunit
iesi
nanareain
whichnatur
alvegetat
ionhasbeenremov
edordestr
oyedbutt
hesoil
isnot
destr
oyed.

 Successional Theory-Currenttheoryhol dsthatecosystem devel

opmentresults
fr
om modi f
icati
onoft hephysicalenvironmentbyt hebioti
ccommuni t
yacti
ngas
awhol e(thehol i
sti
ccomponent )
;theinteracti
onofcompet iti
onandcoexistence
betweencomponentpopul ati
ons( t
heindi vi
duali
sti
ccomponent );andashif
tin
energyfl
owf rom producti
ontor espir
ationasmor eandmor eoftheav ai
l
able
energyisrequi r
edtosuppor ttheincreasingorganicstruct
ure(thecommuni ty
metaboliccomponent ).

GoBackt
oFr
agi
l
eEcosy
stem
 I
mpor
tantecosy
stem t
ermi
nol
ogy
Ecosyst
em Ser
vices:Thi
sthetechni
calter
mf orthebenefi
tshumansandot herl
iv
ingthi
ngsget
fr
om ecosy
stems.Theseservi
cesareinfourgroups:Support
ingser
vices,
Provi
si
oningserv
ices,
Regul
ati
ngservi
cesandCultur
alserv
ices.READMOREHERE

Adapt
ation:Anadaptat
ionisawayananimal'
sbodyhel
psi
tsurvi
ve,orl
ive,
ini
tsenvi
ronment
.A
goodexampleisthepolarbear
.It
swhil
efurhel
psitt
ocamoufl
age,soit
spreycannotseei
t.I
ts
Thi
ckfuralsoprovi
desthewarmthtohelpi
tsurv
ivei
nit
sfr
ozenenvir
onment

Abiot
ic:
Phy si
cal,
ornonli
ving,f
actorsthatshapeanecosyst
em.Ex amplesi
ncl
uderocks,
cl
imate,pr
essure,soi
ls,
precipi
tat
ion,sunl
ight
,windsandhumidi
ty.Theseabi
oti
chaveadirect
i
nfl
uenceonl i
vingthi
ngs.

Bioti
c: Li
vi
ngfactorssuchasplants,
animals,f
ungi,
prot
istandbacteri
aar eallbi
oti
corli
vi
ng
fact
ors.Bioti
cfactorsdependonabioti
cfactor
stosurvi
v e.Thkindofbioti
cfactors(
li
vi
ng
organisms)inagivenareaisoftenasaresultofabi
oti
ccondi t
ionsofthatarea.

Habi
tat
:thear
eawher
eanor
gani
sm l
i
ves,
incl
udi
ngt
hebi
oti
candabi
oti
cfact
orst
hataf
fecti
t

Symbiosi
s:Rel
ati
onshipinwhichtwospeci esli
vecl
osel
ytogether,
usual
lybenef
it
ingf
rom each
other
.Therear
ethreetypesofthisrel
ati
onship:
1.Parasi
ti
sm:parasit
ebenefi
ts,hosti
shur t.
2.Commensalism: onespeci
esbenefit
s,theotheri
snei
therhurtnorhel
ped.
3.Mutuali
sm:bothspeciesbenefi
t

FoodWeb:Thecomplexf
eedi
ngnetworkoccur
ri
ngwi
thi
nandbet
weenfoodchainsinan
ecosy
stem,
wherebymembersofonefoodchai
nmaybelongt
ooneormoreotherfoodchai
ns.

Habit
at:
Theplacewhereapart
icularpopul
ati
on(e.
g.,
human,
animal
,pl
ant
,micro-or
gani
sm)
l
iv
esandi t
ssurr
oundi
ngs.Example,Theanacondasnakel
i
vesinwat
erandthr
ivesverywel
l
t
here.

Pl
ankt
on:
Micr
oscopi
cpl
ant
sandani
mal
sthatl
i
vei
nwat
er.

Lev
elsofor
gani
zat
ioni
nanecosy
stem
Tounder
standt
hel
evel
sofbel
ongi
ngi
nanecosy
stem,
letusconsi
dert
hedi
agr
am bel
ow.
 I
ndi
vidual
,Species,Organism:
Anindi
vi
dualisanylivi
ngthingoror gani
sm.Indivi
dualsdonotbreedwi thi
ndiv
idual
sfrom ot
her
gr
oups.Animals,unl
ikeplants,t
endt obeverydefini
tewiththi
sterm becausesomeplantscancr
oss
-
breedwithotherfer
til
eplants.
I
nthediagram above,youwillnoti
cethatGil
l
, t
hegoldfish,i
sint
eract
ingwithit
senvir
onment,and
wi
llonl
ycrossbreedwi t
hothergoldf i
shesj
ustlikeher.

Populati
on:
Agr oupofindi
vidual
sofagiv enspeciesthatl
i
vei naspecificgeographi
car eaatagiventi
me.
(exampleisGill
andhisfamilyandfri
endsandot herf
ishesofGill
’sspecies)Notethatpopul
ati
ons
i
ncludeindivi
dualsofthesamespeci es,butmayhav ediff
erentgeneticmakeupsuchas
hair/
eye/ski
ncolourandsizebetweent hemselvesandot herpopulati
ons.

Communi ty
:
Thisincl
udesallthepopul
ati
onsinaspeci f
icareaatagi
vent
ime.Acommuni t
yincl
udes
populati
onsoforganismsofdif
ferentspecies.I
nthedi
agr
am above,
notehowpopulat
ionsofgol
d
fi
shes,salmons,crabsandherr
ingscoexistinadefi
nedl
ocat
ion.Agreatcommunit
yusual
ly
i
ncludesbiodi
versity
.

Ecosy stem:
Asexpl ainedint
hepagesearl
ier
,ecosyst
emsi ncl
udemor ethanacommunit
yofli
vingor
ganisms
(abiot
ic)inter
act
ingwi
ththeenvir
onment(abioti
c).Atthi
slevel
not
ehowtheydependonother
abioti
cf actor
ssuchasrocks,
water,ai
randtemper at
ure.
 Bi
ome:
Abi
ome,insi
mpl
eterms,isasetofecosy
stemsshar
ingsi
mil
archar
act
eri
sti
cswi
tht
hei
rabi
oti
c
f
act
orsadapt
edt
otheirenvi
ronment
s.

 Biosphere:
Whenweconsi derallt
hediff
erentbi
omes, eachbl
endi
ngint
ot heother
,will
all
humansli
vi
ng
i
nmanydi ff
erentgeographi
careas,weform ahugecommunityofhumans, ani
malsand
pl
ant s,
intheirdef
inedhabit
ats.Abiospher
ei st
hesum ofal
ltheecosystemsestabl
i
shedon
Earth.

Whati
sabi
ome?
Biomesareveryl
argeecologi
calareasontheearth’
ssurface,withfaunaandf l
ora(animalsandpl
ants)adapt
ingto
thei
renvi
ronment.Bi
omesar eoft
endef i
nedbyabioti
cfactorssuchascl imate,r
eli
ef,geol
ogy,soi
l
sandv egetat
ion.A
biomeisNOTanecosy stem,al
thoughinawayi tcanlooklikeamassi veecosystem.Ifyoutakeacloserl
ook,youwi
noti
cethatpl
antsorani
mal si
nanyoft hebiomeshav especialadaptati
onsthatmakei tpossi
blef
orthem toexi
stin
thatar
ea.Youmayf i
ndmanyuni tsofecosyst
emswi thi
nonebi ome.

Ther
earefi
vemajorcat
egori
esofbi
omesonear
th.I
nthesef
ive,
ther
ear
emanysub-
biomes,
underwhi
char
emany
morewell
defi
nedecosyst
ems.

Letustakeaqui
cklookateachoft
hesebi
omesbel
ow:
(Cl
ickGreenBut
tonsBel
ow)

TheDeser
tBi
omes:Theyar
etheHotandDr
yDeser
ts,
Semi
Ari
dDeser
ts,
Coast
alDeser
tsandCol
dDeser
ts.

TheAquaticBi
omes:Aquat
icbi
omesar egroupedint
otwo,Fr
eshwat
erBi
omes(
lakesandponds,
riv
ersandst
reams
wetl
ands)andMar
ineBiomes(oceans,
coralreef
sandestuar
ies)
.

TheFor
estBiomes:Therearethr
eemai
nbi
omesthatmakeupFor
estBi
omes.Thesear
etheTr
opi
cal
Rai
nfor
est
,
Temper
ateandBorealForest
s(al
socal
l
edt
heTai
ga)

TheGrasslandBi
omes:Ther
ear
etwomai
nty
pesofgr
assl
andbi
omes:
theSav
annaGr
assl
andsandt
heTemper
ate
Grassl
ands.

TheTundr
aBi
omes:Ther
ear
etwomaj
ort
undr
abi
omes—TheAr
ti
cTundr
aandt
heAl
pineTundr
a.

Bi
omespl
ayacr
uci
alr
olei
nsust
aini
ngl
i
feonear
th.Forex
ampl
e,t
heAquat
icbi
omei
shomet
omi
l
li
onsoff
ishspeci
andthesourceoft
hewat
ercycl
e.Ital
sopl
aysaveryi
mport
antr
oleincli
matefor
mati
on.Theter
rest
ri
albi
omesprov
foods,
enri
chtheai
rwi
thoxygenandabsor
bcarbondi
oxi
deandotherbadgasesfr
om t
heair
.Theyalsohel
pregul
ate
cli
mateandsoon.

.
..

SEEOTHERREVI
SIONLESSONSAVAILABLEONESCHOOLTODAY
CLASSI
FICATIONOFMATTER|PHOTOSYNTHESI
S|FORCES|GENETI
CS|KI
NDSOFENERGY
LANDPOLLUTI ON|AI
RPOLLUTI
ON| WATERPOLLUTI
ON|LI
GHTPOLLUTION|NOI
SEPO

Foodchai
ns
All
li
vi
ngt hi
ngsneedtof eedtogetenergyt
ogr ow,moveandrepr oduce.Butwhatdotheseliv
ingthi
ngsfeedon?Sm
i
nsectsfeedongreenplants,
andbiggeranimalsfeedonsmalleronesandsoon.Thi sfeedingrel
ati
onshi
pinaneco
i
scall
edaf oodchain.Foodchainsareusuall
yinasequence,withanar r
owusedt oshowt hefl
owofenergy.Bel
ow
someliv
ingthi
ngsthatcanf i
tint
oaf oodchain.Canyoubui
ldit?Clicktoplay
.

Woul
dyoul
iket
oseeagoodexampl
eofanot
herf
oodchai
nint
heTundr
a?Cl
i
ckher
e!

Afoodchai
nisnotthesameasafoodweb.
Afoodwebisanetworkofmanyfoodchai
nsandismorecomplex.
Seethef
oodwebill
ustr
ati
onbel
ow—y oucanpi
ckoutabasi
cfoodchai
nfr
om t
heweb:
Greenpl
ant
s Gr
asshopper
 Bi
rd Hawk

I
nthedi
agr
am abov
e,ar
rowshowst
hedi
rect
ionofener
gyf
low.I
tpoi
ntst
otheani
maldoi
ngt
heeat
ing.

Energytransfer
:
Energyistransf
err
edalongfoodchai
nsfr
om onel
eveltothenext
.Someoftheener
gyi
susedupi
ngr
owt
h,r
epr
odu
repai
r,mov ementandotherways,
andnotmadeavai
labletot
henextl
evel
.

Shor
terf
oodchai
nsr
etai
nmor
eener
gyt
hanl
ongerchai
ns.Usedupener
gyi
sabsor
bedbyt
heenv
ironment
.

Tr
ophi
clev
elsoff
oodchai
ns

Thelev
elsofafoodchai
n(f
oodpy
rami
d)i
scal
l
edTr
ophi
clev
els.Thet
rophi
clev
elofanor
gani
sm i
sthel
evel
ithol
d
foodpyr
amid.

Thesuni
sthesour
ceofal
ltheener
gyi
nfoodchai
ns.Gr
eenpl
ant
s,usual
l
ythef
ir
stl
evel
ofanyf
oodchai
n,absor
oftheSun’sl
ightener
gytomaket
hei
rownf
oodbyphot
osy
nthesi
s.Gr
eenpl
ant
s(aut
otr
ophs)ar
ether
efor
eknowna
‘
Producers’i
naf oodchai
n.

Thesecondlev
elofthefoodchai
nsi
scal
ledthePri
mar yConsumer.Theseconsumethegr
eenpl
ant
s.Ani
mal
si
gr
oupareusual
l
yherbiv
ores.Exampl
esi
ncl
udeinsect
s,sheep,cat
erpi
l
lar
sandev encows.

Thethi
rdi
nthechai
nareSecondar
yConsumers.Theseusual
l
yeatupt hepri
maryconsumer
sandot
herani
mal
Theyarecommonlycal
ledcar
niv
oresandexampl
esincl
udeli
ons,snakesandcats.

Thef
our
thl
evel
iscal
l
edTer
ti
aryConsumer
s.Thesear
eani
mal
sthateatsecondar
yconsumer
s.

Quat
ernar
yConsumer
seatt
ert
iar
yconsumer
s.

AtthetopofthelevelsarePredat s.Theyar
or eani
malsthathaveli
tt
leornonaturalenemies.Theyar
ethe‘bosse
thei
recosystems.Predatorsfeedonpreys.Apreyisanani
mal thatpr
edator
shunttokillandfeedon.Pr
edatorsi
ncl
owls,snakes,wi
ldcats,crocodi
lesandsharks.Humanscanalsobecalledpredat
ors.

Whenanyor
gani
sm dies,
detr
i es(
vor l
ikevul
tur
es,
wormsandcr abs)eatthem up.Ther
estarebr
okendownby
decomposer
s(most
lybacter
iaandfungi
),andt
heexchangeofenergyconti
nues.Decomposersst
artt
hecycl
eagai
n

Whati
sTheCar
bonCy
cle?
Thecar
boncy
clei
sver
yimpor
tantt
oal
lecosy
stems,
andul
ti
mat
elyl
i
feonear
th.Thecar
boncy
clei
scr
it
ical
tot
hef
chai
n.

Li
vingti
ssuecontai
ncar
bon,becausetheycont
ainpr
otei
ns,
fat
sandcar
bohy
drat
es.Thecar
boni
nthese(
li
vi
ngord
ti
ssuesisrecy
cledi
nvar
iousprocesses.

Let
'sseehowt
hiscy
clewor
ksusi
ngt
hesi
mpl
esket
chbel
ow:
Humanacti
vit
iesl
i
keheat
inghomesandcarsbur
ningf
uels(combust
ion)giv
eoffcar
bonintot
heat
mospher
e.Dur
in
r
espi
rat
ion,
animal
salsoi
ntr
oducecar
bonint
otheatmospherei
ntheform ofcar
bondioxi
de.

TheCar
bondi
oxi
dei
ntheat
mospher
eisabsor
bedbygr
eenpl
ant
s(pr
oducer
s)t
omakef
oodi
nphot
osy
nthesi
s.

Whenani
mal
sfeedongreenplant
s,theypassoncar
boncompoundsunt
ootherani
malsintheupperl
evel
soft
he
chai
ns.Animal
sgiveoffcar
bondioxi
dei
ntot
heatmospher
eduri
ngrespir
ati
on.

Car
bondi
oxidei
salsogiv
enof fwhenpl
antsandani
malsdie.Thisoccurswhendecomposers(
bacter
iaandfungi
downdeadplantsandanimal
s(decomposi
ti
on)andr el
easethecarboncompoundsst
oredinthem.

Ver
yof
ten,
ener
gyt
rappedi
nthedeadmat
eri
alsbecomesf
ossi
lfuel
swhi
chi
susedascombust
ionagai
natal
ate

TheNi
tr
ogenCy
cle

Nitr
ogeni
salsokeyintheexist
enceofecosystemsandf oodchains.Ni
tr
ogenf ormsabout78%oft heaironeart
pl
antsdonotusenit
rogendirect
lyfr
om theair
.Thisisbecausenit
rogenit
selfisunreact
ive,
andcannotbeusedb
plantst
omakeprotei
n.Nitr
ogengast heref
oreneedstobeconv er
tedint
onitratecompoundi nt
hesoilbynit
rogen
bacteri
ainsoil
,rootnodul
esorli
ghtning.

Tounder
standt
hecy
clebet
ter
,letusconsi
dert
hedi
agr
am bel
ow:

1.Ni
tr
ogeni
sint
roducedt
othesoi
lbypr
eci
pit
ati
on(
rai
n,l
i
ght
li
ng)
.

2.Nit
rat
esdon’tonl
ycomefrom Nit
rogenintheair
.Theycanal
sobeobtai
nedbyt
heconver
sionofammonia,co
usedinf
ert
il
izer
sbynit
ri
fyi
ngbacter
iainthesoil
.Somerootnodul
escanal
soconv
ertni
tr
ogeninthesoi
li
ntonit

3.Pl
ant
sbui
l
duppr
otei
nsusi
ngni
tr
atesabsor
bedf
rom t
hesoi
l
.
 4.Whenani
mal
sli
kecows,
eatt
hesepl
ant
s,t
heyi
ntur
nusei
ttobui
l
dani
mal
prot
ein.

5-
6.Whent
heseani
mal
s(cows)poop,peeordie,theur
ea,excr
etaorcarcassarebr
okendownbydecomposer
s
nit
rogeni
sr e-
int
roducedint
othesoili
ntheform ofammonia.

7.Ni
tr
atesi
nthesoil
canalsobebrokendownbydenit
rif
yingbacteri
a(i
nspecif
iccondi
ti
ons)andsenti
ntothe
ni
tr
ogen.Thi
sprocesscanhel
pmaket hesoi
li
nfer
ti
le,becauseitwil
ll
ackthenit
rat
esneededforpl
antuse

Onceni
tr
ogenget
sbacki
ntot
heai
r,t
hecy
clecont
inues.

Gl
ossar
yforEcosyst
ems:ChangeandChal
lenge

Abi
oti
c Non-li
vi
ngcomponentsofanecosyst
em andi
ncl
udes;cl
i
mate(temper
atureand
pr
ecipi
tat
ion)
,soi
lchar
act
eri
sti
cs,par
entr
ock,
air
,rel
i
efanddr
ainagecharact
eri
sti
cs.

Arrest
ing Thef
act
orst
hatcausesuccessi
ont
obei
nter
rupt
ed
factor
s

Aut
otr
oph Gr
eenpl
ant
sthatphot
osy
nthesi
set
opr
oducef
oodt
osuppor
ttr
ophi
clev
elsabov
ethem.

Azonal
soi
l I
mmat
uresoi
lwi
thpoor
lydev
elopedpr
ofi
l
e.E.
g.v
olcani
csoi
l

bi
odi
ver
sit
y i
st hevari
ati
onofli
fefor
mswi t
hinagi
venecosyst
em,biome, orontheentireEar
th.
Biodi
versi
tyi
softenusedasameasureoftheheal
thofbiologicalsy
stems.Thebiodi
ver
sit
y
foundonEar t
htodayconsi
stsofmanymil
l
ionsofdist
inctbiol
ogicalspeci
es.

Bi
omass Thet
otal
massofl
i
vingor
gani
smspr
esenti
nacommuni
tyatanyonet
ime-kg/
m2

Bi
ome Amaj
orgl
obal
ecosy
stem i
nfl
uencedbyt
hecl
i
mat
e.E.
g.Tr
opi
cal
Rai
nfor
est

Bi
oti
c Communi t
yofinterdependentl
ivi
ngcomponentsinanecosyst
em i
ncl
udes;v
eget
ati
on,
gr
asses,herbs,
ferns,algae,
mossesshrubs,
trees(l
i
vinganddecomposi
ng)mammals,
i
nsect
s,birdsandmi croorgani
sms.

Bl
owout
s Theseoccurwhent hewindcauseserosi
onoft heduner at
herthandeposi t
ion.Theycan
takeplacenat
ural
l
yduet osev er
eweatherevents,
butmanyoft heblowoutst hatwesee
aroundtheBri
ti
shcoasthav eoccur
redduetodegr adat
ionofthev egetat
ioncausedby
trampl
ingandfootpatherosi
onorBBQf i
res.

Br
ownEar
th AZonal
soi
lfort
emper
atedeci
duouswoodl
and,
commonl
yoncl
aysoi
l
s

Cal
ci
fi
cat
ion Cal
ci
um isnolongerr
emov
edi
fleachi
ngi
sli
mit
ed(
evapot
ranspi
rat
ion>pr
eci
pit
ati
on)and
soi
taccumulates

Car
niv
ore Anani
mal
whi
chonl
yeat
smeat
;tr
ophi
clev
el3
Cat
ena asequenceofsoi
l
sdownsl
opes

Cati
on Thechemi
cal
repl
acementofcat
ionswi
thi
nthesoi
l
exchange

Chel
uvi
ati
on Or
gani
c-met
alcompounds(
chel
ates)ar
esol
ubl
eandeasi
l
ytr
anspor
teddownt
hepr
ofi
l
e.

Cli
matic cl
i
max Thefi
nalstagei
nsuccessi
on,
ther
ichestcommuni
tyf
oracl
i
mat
e.E.
g.deci
duouswoodl
an
veget
ati
on SEEngland.

col
oni
ser
s Fir
stplantst
oinvade-e.g.li
chensandmosses.Theseplantshaveadaptati
onswhichal l
ow
them togrowinadiff
icultenvi
ronmente.g.waxyl
eavestoretai
nmoistureandwithstand
winds,prost
rat
e(low)habittoavoidst
rongwinds,deeptaproot
stoobt ai
navai
lable
moisture

Communi
ty Theent
ir
evar
iet
yofspeci
est
hatar
efoundi
nanecosy
stem.

conser
vat
ion t
heprot
ecti
onandpossi
bleenhancementofnat
ural
env
ironment
stoensur
ethei
rsur
viv
al
f
orf
utureuse

Decomposer
s Organi
smsthattakether
emainsofdeadplantsandanimal
s,aswel
lasexcret
edwast
eand
conver
tthem backt
ocarbondioxi
deandnutir
ient
s.e.
g.Bact
eri
aandfungi

Def
orest
ati
on Thedeli
ber
atecl
ear
anceoff
orestf
rom l
andbycut
ti
ngorbur
ning.CausesPl
agi
ocl
i
max
veget
ati
on.

Det
ri
ti
vor
es Organi
smst hatbrakedownl
eav
esanddeadani
mal
s;r
educi
ngt
hem bydecomposi
ti
onbac
i
ntosoilnut
rient
s

Ecol
ogy Thest udyofcommunit
iesofli
vi
ngorganismsandtherelat
ionshi
psamongthemember
so
thosecommuni t
iesandbetweenthem andthephy
sicalandchemical
const
it
uent
soft
heir
surroundi
ngs

Ecosy
stem Adynamic,
stabl
e,communi
tyofi
nter
dependentl
i
ving(
biot
ic)andnon-
li
vi
ng(
abi
oti
c)
component
s.

El
uvi
ati
on Processofwashi
ngoutofmat
eri
alsi
nsuspensi
one.
g.cl
ayf
rom t
heAt
otheBhor
izoni
na
podsol.(
seel
eachi
ng)

Fauna ani
mal
s

Fl
ora pl
ant
s

Foodchai
n Asequenceofener
gyt
ransfer
sfrom onetrophi
clev
elt
oanot
her
.Af
oodwebi
samor
e
r
eal
ist
icandcomplexi
nter
connectedsequence.

Fragi
le i
sonewhi chiseasi
lydi
sturbedandthatl
acksresi
l
iencetochange,manyfragi
le
Envir
onment
s envi
ronmentscrossnati
onalboundari
es,cr
eati
ngi
nternat
ionalmanagementchall
enges.
Humanact i
vi
ty,bothdi
rectandindi
rect(
inthegui
seofpolluti
onandglobalwar
ming)has
damagedmanyf ragi
leenvi
ronments,someirr
epar
ably

Ger
smehl St
oresar
edr
awnpropor
ti
onalcircl
esrepresenti
ngbiomass,l
it
terandsoi
l
.Nutr
ientt
ransfer
di
agram ar
eshownasar
rowswhosethicknessrepresentst
herel
ativ
erateoffl
owbetweenstores.
Gl
eyi
ng Reduct
ionoff
err
ict
ofer
rousi
ronunderwat
erl
oggedcondi
ti
ons.

Habi
tat
s Speci
fi
clocat
ionswi
thapar
ti
cul
arsetofcondi
ti
onsandanappr
opr
iat
elyadapt
ed
communitye.
g.ahedger
ow

Her
biv
ore anani
mal
thatonl
yeat
spl
ant
s;t
ropi
clev
el2

Hor
izon adi
sti
ncthor
izont
all
ayeri
nasoi
lpr
ofi
l
e

Humus decomposedor
gani
cmat
teri
ntheAohor
izon

Humi
fi
cat
ion Soi
lor
gani
smsbr
eakdownor
gani
cmat
tert
ofor
m humus.

I
ll
uvi
ati
on Processofdeposi
ti
onorwashi
nginofsoi
lmater
ialf
rom t
heAt otheBhor
izoni
napodsol
Thismateri
alhasbeenr
emovedfr
om anupperhori
zonbyeluv
iati
on.

I
ntr
azonal
soi
l Soi
lwi
thl
ocal
l
ymodi
fi
edchar
act
eri
sti
cse.
g.Wat
erl
oggi
ngpr
oducesagl
eysoi
l

ki
tedi
agr
am Gr
apht
hatshowssuccessi
on

Leachi
ng Remov alofbasecati
onsfr
om thesoi
lbyaci
dicr
ainwat
er(
seeel
uvi
ati
on)wher
e
preci
pit
ationexceedsev
aporat
ion.

Mi
cro-habi
tat
s Smal
lspeci
fi
clocat
ionse.
g.underal
eaf

Monocul
tur
e Plant
ati
onsthatproduceonlyonespeciesoft
reeoronet
ypeoff
ood-onr
ainf
orestsoi
lar
e
examplesofnon-sust
ainabl
eagri
cult
ure.

Or
gani
cfar
ming f
armi
ngusi
ngnat
ural
manur
esandav
oidst
heuseofchemi
cal
pest
ici
desandf
ert
il
iser
s.

Nut
ri
entcy
cli
ng Thecycl
ingofcarbon,
nit
rogenandphosphor
ustakenupbyplant
s,passedupt
oherbi
vor
e
car
niv
oresandthenbrokendownbydetri
ti
voreswhoreducet
hem bydecomposi
ti
onback
i
ntosoil
nutr
ient
s

phot
osy
nthesi
s Thepr ocessi
ngr eenplant
sandcert
ainotherorgani
smsbywhichcar
bohydrat
esare
synthesisedf
rom carbondioxi
deandwaterusingli
ghtasanener
gysour
ce,usual
l
yreleasi
n
oxygenasaby -
product.

Pi
oneerspeci
es Plant
swhi chi
nvadebaregr
ound,
har
dyandadapt
edt
ohar
shenv
ironment
s.E.
g.l
ong-
root
e
saltt
oler
antmarram gr
ass.

Pl
agi
ocl
i
max Plantcommuni
tyhal
tedbyhumanact
ivi
tye.
g.heat
hermoor
landatSt
udl
andgr
azedby
sheep.

Podsol AZonal
soi
lunderconi
fer
ousf
orestandheat
hlandespeci
all
yonsandy
,fr
ee-dr
aini
ngpar
e
r
ock.

Podsol
i
sat
ion Thedev
elopmentofanaci
dsoi
li
ncool
temper
atecl
i
mat
es.

Pri
mary AKAHerbi
vor
es-ani
mal
sandoccasi
onal
l
ypl
ant
sthatobt
ainst
hei
rener
gybyeat
inggr
een
consumer pl
ant
s.

Pri
mar y (
Alsocal
l
edpr
iser
e).Apr
ocesswher
eanar
eai
sveget
atede.
g.bar
erock(
li
thoser
e)
successi
on
Pr
oduct
ivi
ty Ther
ateofcr
eat
ionofl
i
vingmat
terbyphot
osy
nthesi
s.Kg/
m2/
year
.

Psammoser
e Asuccessi
ononsanddunes

Regol
i
th Weat
her
edr
ockdebr
is

Sal
i
nisat
ion Process,bywhichsal
tsar
edr
awnt
othesur
facebyst
rongev
apor
ati
on,
mayr
esul
tinsol
i
d
duri
crustonthesurf
ace.

Secondar
y AKAcar
niv
ores-meateat
ers
consumers

Secondary Asuccessi
onwhi
choccur
sonapr
evi
ousl
yveget
atedsur
facet
hathasbeendi
stur
bed.
successi
on

Ser
e Ast
agei
nthedev
elopmentofapl
antcommuni
ty.

Soi
laci
dit
y Theconcent
rat
ionofhy
drogeni
onsi
nasoi
l
,measur
edonpHscal
e.

Soi
lpr
ofi
l
e Av
ert
ical
sect
iont
hrought
hesoi
ltoshowhor
izons

Soi
lst
ruct
ure Thear
rangementofsoi
lpar
ti
clesi
ntoaggr
egat
esorpeds.E.
g.cr
umbs

Soi
ltext
ure Relat
ivepropor
ti
onofsi
zescl
ay,
sandandsi
l
t.Al
oam i
sami
xtur
eofal
lthr
ee,
creat
inga
fer
til
esoil
.

Successi
on Aser
iesofchangest
hatt
akepl
acei
napl
antcommuni
tyov
ert
ime.

sust
ainabi
l
ity i
sthecapaci
tyt
oendure.Inecol
ogyt
hewor
ddescr
ibeshowbi
ologi
cal
syst
emsr
emai
n
di
ver
seandproduct
iveoverti
me.

Tr
ansl
ocat
ion Themov
ementofsoi
lcomponent
s(i
nsol
uti
on/suspensi
on)upordownt
hrought
hepr
ofi
l
e

Tr
ophi
clev
el Alev
eli
nwhi chener
gyist
ransf
err
edfrom onegr
oupoforganismsi
nthefoodchai
nto
anot
her
.Lev
el 1–aut
otr
ophs(pl
ants),
lev
el 2–pr
imar
y(thatfeedonl
evel
1)consumersan
soon.

Ur
banni
ches Coloni
sat
ionofwastel
end:t
hedevelopmentofdisti
ncti
veecol
ogi
esal
ongrout
eways(
eg
roadsandrai
lway
s).Theplannedandunplannedintr
oduct
ionofnewspeci
esandt
he
i
mpactoft hi
sonecosyst
ems.

Weat
her
ing Pr
ocesswhi
chbr
eaksdownr
ocksi
nsi
tu

Zonal
soi
l
s Amajorgroupofmaturesoi
lswhi
chr
efl
ectt
hecl
i
mat
eandv
eget
ati
onoft
hear
eai
nwhi
ch
t
heyarefound.E.
g.podzol
s.

Zones Uni
tswi
thi
nbi
omese.
g.l
ayer
sinr
ainf
orest

1.Whati
ssoi
l
?
Di
ff
erentpeopl
emeandi
ff
erentt
hingswhent
heyuset
hewor
d“soi
l
”.Toci
vi
lengi
neer
siti
sunconsol
l
oosemat eri
al thati sn’trock–sogeol ogical deposi tsli
keest uarymud, lakecl ays, bouldercl ay,loess
blownsi l
tydeposi ts)andsanddunesmi ghtbei ncluded.Togar dener sandf armer sitis,per hapst he
cm orsooft hegr ound, thebi tthaty oudi g,andsi nkfence-post sinto.Agr av ediggeri straditionally
i
nt er
estedinthet op2met r
es!Forpur posesofsoi l
studywear ecl oset ot hegr av edigger.Soi l scien
andsur veyor
swhomapsoi ltypesusual l
yst udyt hesur faceoft heear tht oabout1. 2met r
es, although
mostpar tsoft hewor l
d, asweshal lsee, soil canbemuchdeepert hant his.Inpr acti
ce, manysoi lsar
shall
ow, astheyar edev elopedi nhar dr ocks, butweneedacut -offpoint .1.2met r
esisapr act i
cal dep
healthandsaf etyl egislationi nsev eralcount riesr i
ghtlyinsistsonshor ingandhar dhatsoncey ouget
thanthis.Muchsur v eywor kisdonewi thahandauger–ascr ewt oollikeawoodaugert hatbr ingsu
sampl es.Thesear eusual l
yonet o1. 2met r
esl ong.Sosoi l canbedef i
nedast hephy sicall
yal teredt o
m oft heeart
h’scr ust.Wewi llseet hatt hephy sicalandchemi calalterationsoft heear t
h'ssur faceat
depthsar everysi gni f
icant ,especiall
yf ort hegr owt hofpl ants.

Wecanal lrecogni set opsoi lwhenweseei t.Itisadar kcr umbl ylookingmat er

ialthatr eadilybr eaksu
thehand, andl eavesy ourf ingersdi rty.Mostpeopl e,ifasked, wi l
lsayt hatitisami xtureofmi neralpa
andor gani cmat t
erf rom decomposedpl ants.Moi stt opsoi l
shakeni nt hehandwi l
l breakupi ntolum
varioussi zes, butt hesel umpsar eobv iouslymade ofsomeki ndsofmi xedmat erialsst ucktoget her,
breakdownf urtheri fwegr indt hem bet weenourf i
nger s, orwitha pest leandmor tar.Thosewhost u
haveagr eedt oconsi dert hebasi cmi neralpar t
iclesinf ourcat egor i
es, dependingont hei rsi
ze.Thef i
particlesar eknownascl aydef inedashav i
ngadi amet eroflesst han2mi cr
omet res( m, ami crome
onet housandt hofami lli
met re.Justf orcompar i
son, ar edbloodcel lisabout7m i ndi amet er).Clay
noteasi l
ysepar atei ntoi ndividual parti
clesasi tisver ycohesi ve,tost udyitwehav et odi spersei ti
nw
usingchemi calst hatbr eakt hebondsbet weenpar ticles.Thenextsi zeofpar t
icleiscal ledsiltandha
diamet erof2t o60m.Par ti
clesl argert hanthi scanbeseenwi tht henakedey e,andar eknownassa
somet imesdi videdi ntof ine,medi um andcoar sesand.Sand, siltandcl aycontitutewhati sknownas
“fi
neear th”.Par t
iclesl argert han2000m ( 2mm)ar eincludedwi thstoneswhi chv aryf rom finegr i
t,o
grav eltol argeboul ders.

Soilsamples,ofcourse,arenevercomposedofj ustoneofthesepar ti
cle-si
zes.Theycont ai
nmi xt
ure
sandsi l
tandclay,andthismixtureisconvent
ional
lycall
edthetextureor“ part
icl
esize-
class”ofthes
Stonesalsooccuri nmostsoils,buttheyareconsi
deredseperatel
y,anddonotconst i
tut
epar tofthep
si
ze-class.Thewor d“loam”hascomet obeusedf oragoodmi xturecont aini
ngenoughclayt oprovi
d
nutri
entsandenoughsi ltandsandt ogivegooddrainageandwat er-
holdingpropert
iestothesoil.Th
scient
istsrefert
osandyl oams,sil
tloams,sil
tyclayloamsandclayloamsdependi ngont hepropor t
io
thesepar t
icl
e-si
zesinthemi x.Soi
lswithmor ethan35%clay-
sizeparti
clesar ecalledclay,
whilstthos
mor ethan80%sandar ecall
edloamysandsandsands.Ther eismor einformationont hisavai
lablef
Wikipediaentryon“soil
”-seehttp:
//en.wi
kipedi
a.org/wi
ki
/Soi
l.Althoughr athertechnicali
npar t
s,th
general,ausefulsourceoffurt
herinfor
mationonmostaspect softhiscourse.

Thedar kcol ouroft opsoi liscausedbyf i

nelydivi
dedor ganicmat ter,orhumus.Thi si sthest uffthats
toyourhandsandmakest hem di r
ty.Inf act,i
tsomet imesr eactschemi callywi thfl
uidsonandi nthe
stai
ni ngt hesur f
acecel ls.( Soilscientistsknowt hiswel l,
asi tt
akesagest ocleanhandst hathav ebe
dealingwi thhumus- r
ichsoi l
s) .Wear ealsol i
kelytoseesomer ecogni sabl efragment sofpl ants–pi e
stem, l
eaf ,fl
owerf rui
t,rootet c.i
nv ar i
ousst atesofpreser vati
on,andof tensomeani mal sl i
keear thwo
ants, mi l
lipedes,slugsori nsectl ar
v ae.Amagni f
yinghandl enswi ll
rev eal mor edetail,i
ncludingway s
whicht hehumusi sdistribut edthrought heothermat erials,andsmal lersoi lfaunal i
kespr i
ngtails.Th
architect ureofthesoi l becomesev ident ,wit
hl i
vi
nganddeadr oots,of tenf ormi ngdensemat sneart h
surface, andl eavingimpr essi onsint hef orm ofpores.Thef aunaalsocr eatepor es,whi l
stthecast s,
o
droppi ngsofear t
hwor msandot herani malsmaybev isible.Somet i
mest herear echemi cal concretio
havepr eci pi
tat
edouti nt hesoi l;
smal lnodulesofmanganeseandi r
onf orexampl e,
orl argerfragmen
i
ronpan–wewi lldiscusst hislaterinrelationtowat erl
oggedandupl andsoi ls,andt othel ateri
tesoi l
s
tr
opi cal areas.

Webegi nt ogett hef eel i

ngt hatthisisprett
yspeci alandcompl exst uff.Thef eel
ingi sri
ght !Chemi st
spentcent uriespryingi ntot hechemi calcomponent sofsoil,andar est il
lsomewayf rom i
dent if
yinga
mol eculest hatmakei tup.Thi sisnotsosur prisingwhenweconsi dert heorigi
noft hemat erial
si nso
miner al
sar eder i
vedf rom geol ogicaldepositst hatwer et
herebef oresoi l f
ormed.These, inthemsel v
chemi callyandphy sical l
ycompl icated,havingbeencr eat
edul ti
mat elyf r
om theear th’smant leinv olc
activi
tythatheat edandpr essuri
sedt herocksneart heearth’ssurface.Al t
houghcl aypar t
iclesar emi
theirmol ecul esarev er ycompl exandv ar
ied,dependi ngont hechemi cal ori
ginofther ocksf rom whi c
areder i
v ed.Aswel l asbei ngchemi cal
lyversatile,themol eculesincl ayhav ecompl icatedt hreedi me
structur
est hataf f
ectt heway sinwhi chmi neral element sattachtot hem, andtheypl ayani mpor tant
thest or
ageanddi stribut i
onofi mpor t
antplantnut ri
ents.Theyal soaf fecttheacidi
tyoral kalinit
yoft h
Thisimpor tantchar act eri
stichasaf undament al eff
ectonwhatwi l
l growi nthesoil.Ther ocksf r
om w
thesoi l
par ticles(sand, si
lt,cl
ayandst ones)der i
v emaybeaci dicint hemsel ves.
Theorgani csoi lconst ituent sareevenmor ecompl ex,consisti
ngoft hebreakdownpr oduct sofpl ants
wit
hsubst ancesexcr etedbyani malsandmi cro-or
ganisms.Someoft hismat erial
isreadi lyrecognis
fr
agment sofpl antt issue, butmostofi ti
sbr okendown–ei therbypassingthr oughthedi gesti
v etr
ac
ani
mal s,orbybei ngi ncor poratedint
omi crobialmater
ial
.Thi shumusi sfoundi nparti
cul arpar t
soft h
–especi allyint hetopsoi l,whereitgluesfr
agment sofsoi l
toget her
,andcoat st hesurfacesoft heres
str
uctural units,whi char eknownaspeds.I fyoushakesomegar densoilinyourhandi twi l
lusuallyb
i
ntobreadcr umbshapedf ragmentsaf ewmm t oacoupl eofcm i ndiameter.Thesear ethepeds.Th
surf
acesar eof tencoat edwi thhumus, whi
lstporesthatrunt hroughthem mayal socont ainenhanced
amount soft hismat eri
al .

Thisleadsusont othephysicalstr
uctureofsoil.Pedsar eauniquef eatureofthemat eri
al,andcanb
toidenti
fyanci
entsoildeposit
s,forexampl ebelowthear chaeol
ogical“occupati
onlayers”formedf r
o
debrisofhumanl i
ves–t heremainsofbui l
dingsandt heaccumul atedjunkthatpeoplehav ediscar
de
thecenturi
es–orev enmi l
lenni
a.Att hebaseoft heselay er
siti
susual t
ofindsoilt
hathasbeenpr es
bytheov er
lyi
nglayers.BelowMedi aevalandRomanl ayersinYorkU.K., f
orexample,Ihav eseentop
withpedsandt heremainsofear t
hwor m castssti
l
lidentif
iabl
eafter2000y ears.

Topsoi
lcr
umbst
ruct
uresi
ngr
assl
andsoi
l

Soilisneverhomogeneous-t hesol i
dminer alpar
tsaremi xedwi t
hhumus, airandwat ertoform acom
system inwhi chthe"whol
eismor et
hant hesum ofthepar ts"
.Themi xtureofmi neralpar
ticl
esgiving
texturei
sitselforgani
sedint
ot helar
ger,compoundpeds-soi lstructur
al unit
s.Subsoi l
softenformi n
blockyorprismat i
cpeds,whichmayhav eangul arormor eroundedsur faces.Thesepedsf orm bywe
anddr yi
ngoft hesoi
l,
bythebindingandsecr eti
ngactionsofrootsandbyt heacti
vit
iesofthesoilani
Theyof t
enhav eazonati
onofor gani
cmat t
ercontent,
wi t
hmostoft heOM coat ingthesur f
acesoft h
Thepedsur f
acesmaybecoat edwi t
hothermat eri
alssuchasi ronandmanganeseoxi des,orclaytha
beenr e-
distr
ibutedbywaterflowingthr
ought hesoilporesandov erthepedsur faces.

Pr
ismat
icpedswi
thcl
aycoat
ingsi
nsubsoi
l
Porosit
yisasubdivi
sionofst
ruct
ure-poresandfi
ssuresoccurbetweenpeds,
butalsowi
thi
ntheped
str
uctures.Theyfor
mt hr
oughrootpenet
rati
onanddecay ,
andthroughtheact
ivi
ti
esofsmal
lbori
nga
l
ikenemat odesandpotworms.Largereart
hworm channel
sextendfrom t
hesurf
acetoasmuchas1
depth.

SofarIhavebeent al
kingmainlyaboutthetopsoil
.Thi si sthedar kbrown, bl
ackorgr eyl ayerextendi
n
about20to30cm bel owt hesurface.Underwild(naturalor semi-nat
ural)vegetati
oni tcontainsaden
ofroot
sf r
om t hesurfacetoabout10cm down.I ngr asslandi ti
st hi
srootmatt hatcanbescr apedup
tur
fandusedf orl
ay i
nglawns.Manypeopl eregar
dt het opsoi ll
ayerasthesoi l
,anddon’ tthinktoomu
aboutwhatl i
esbelowi t.Howev er,i
fyoulookatsoilsect i
onsexposedi nroadsi des,quar r
iesandso
wil
lnoti
cet hatthelayerimmediat el
ybelowthetopsoil,oftencal l
edthesubsoi l
,stil
lhassomechar ac
whichdist
inguishitfrom themat eri
alf
rom whichiti
sdev eloped.

Roadsi
desect
ion–U.
K.

Iti
sof tenabr owni shcol our ,contr
ast i
ngwi t
ht hemat erial below.Cl oserinspecti
onwi llshowt hatits
containsr ootsandsoi l animal s,andt hepor es, fi
ssuresandpedst hatwesawi nt hetopsoil.Thesear
soilchar acteri
sticsandcanbeusedt odi f
ferentiatesoil from nonsoi l
.Themat eri
alfrom whi chthes
developedi scal ledthe“ parentmat erial”(seebox1) .I tisconv enti
onal tocallt
heor ganicmat t
er-
enr i
c
topsoil,theAhor izon,whi lstthedi stinct i
velayerbel ow, whi chisnotasdar kandhasf ewerr oot si
sca
Bhor izon.TheBhor i
zoni sofpar ticulari mpor tanceasi tsdept h,structureandwet nessar ecr i
ti
cal to
growt h,andt ot hewayt hel andcanbemanaged.Thecol ourandst ructureofthehor i
zonsbel owthe
giveusv it
al i
nformat i
onaboutt hechar acterandpot ential ofthesoi l
,andar eusedt oclassifythesoi l
rel
ativelyunal t
er edpar entmat eri
al bel owt hisiscal l
edt heChor i
zon.TheChor izonmaybesol i
dr ock
weat heredr ock, orav arietyofunconsol i
dateddeposi tslikesands, sil
ts,cl
aysetc.I ntemper ateregi o
rocksur faceswer eoftenst ronglyal teredbyf r
eezi ngandt hawingdur ingtheperiodjustaf t
ert heglac
retr
eat ed.Dur ingt hi
sper i
odt oo,l
ar gedeposi tsofboul dercl aywer edeposi t
edf r
om thegl aciersleav
mat erial(properlycaledt
l il
l)thatcont ainschaot i
cmi xtur esofsand, sil
t,cl
ayandst ones, i
ncludingl ar
boulder s.

Exer
cises
1.Wri
teyourowndefi
nit
ionofsoi
l,
anddescri
behowiti
susedi
nyourl
ocalarea.Whatdoyouthi
nkare
mosti
mpor t
antf
actor
sf ormai
ntai
ningori
mprov
ingt
hequal
i
tyandsust
ainabil
i
tyofyourl
ocal
soi
ls?
2.Whatar
ethebestopport
uni
ti
esforexami
ningsoi
li
nyourar
ea?Ar
ether
egoodr
oadsi
deexposur
es,
o
pl
aceswher
esoilpr
ofi
lesar
evisi
ble?
3.Ifyouhav
eaccesstotheworl
d-wideweb,l
ookupsomesoi
lcharact
eri
sti
csl
ikesoilstr
uctur
e,soi
lpr
o
etc.Whatdoyouthi
nkoftheresult
s?Aretheyi
nagr
eementwit
hwhaty ouhavelearntsofar
,ordoth
creat
econfusi
on?

I
ntr
oduct
iont
otheLi
thospher
e

(
u).Soi
lPedogenesi
s

I
ntr
oduct
ion

Pedogenesi scanbedef i
nedast heprocessofsoi ldevel
opment .Lat eint he19t hcentur y
,
scient i
stsHilgardintheUni t
edSt at
esandt heRussi anDukuchaevbot hsuggest edindepen
thatpedogenesi swaspr inci
pall
ycont r
oll
edbyclimat eandv egetation.Thi sideawasbase
theobser vat
ionthatcompar abl
esoi l
sdev el
opedi nspatiall
ysepar atear easwhent hei
rcl i
m
andv egetati
onwer esimil
ar.Inthe1940s, HansJennyext endedthesei deasbasedont he
obser vati
onsofmanysubsequentst udiesexami ni
ngt heprocessesi nvolv edinthef ormat
soils.Jennybel i
ev edthatthekindsofsoi lsthatdevelopinapar t
icul arar eaar elargely
determi nedbyf iveinterr
elat
edfact ors:cl
imate;l
ivi
ngor ganisms; parentmat eri
alt
;opogr ap
andt ime( Figure10u-1).
 Figure10u-1:Thedevel
opmentofasoili
sinf
luencedbyfiv
einter
rel
ated
factors:
organisms,t
opogr
aphy,t
ime,par
entmat er
ial
,andcli
mate.

Cli
mat eplay sav eryimpor t
antrol eint hegenesi sofasoi l
.Ont hegl obal scale, thereisan
obviouscor relationbet weenmaj orsoi l typesandt heKöppencl imat i
ccl assificat i
onsy stem
majorclimat ict ypes.Atr egional andl ocal scales, cli
mat ebecomesl essi mpor tantinsoi l
formati
on.I nst ead,pedogenesi sismor einfl
uencedbyf actorsl ikepar entmat erial,t
opogr a
vegetati
on,andt ime.Thet womosti mpor tantclimat icv ariablesi nfl
uenci ngsoi lformat i
on
temperatureandmoi sture.Temper atur ehasadi recti nfl
uenceont heweat heringofbedr o
producemi ner al part
icles.Rat esofbedr ockweat heri
nggener allyincr easewi thhi gher
temperatures.Temper at urealsoi nf
luencest heact i
vityofsoi l mi cr
oor ganisms, thef reque
andmagni tudeofsoi lchemi calr
eact i
ons, andt her ateofpl antgr owt h.Moi stur elevelsi nm
soil
sarepr imar i
lycontrol l
edbyt headdi tionofwat erv iapr ecipitati
onmi nust hel ossesdu
evapotranspirat i
on.Ifaddi t
ionsofwat erf rom pr ecipi
tat i
onsur passl ossesf rom
evapotranspirat i
on, moi sturelevelsinasoi ltendt obehi gh.Ifthewat erlossduet o
evapotranspirat i
onexceedsi nputsf r
om pr ecipit
at i
on, moi sturel evelsi nasoi l t
endt obel o
Highmoi stureav ail
abili
tyi nasoi lpromot estheweat heringofbedr ockandsedi ment s, che
reacti
ons,andpl antgr owt h.Theav ail
abi li
tyofmoi stur ealsohasani nf l
uenceonsoi lpHa
decomposi
ti
onofor
gani
cmat
ter
.

Livi
ngOr gani
smshav ear oleinanumberofpr ocessesi nvol
vedinpedogenesi sincludi
ng
organicmat t
eraccumul ation,prof
il
emi xi
ng,andbi ogeochemi calnut
rientcy cl
ing.Under
equili
bri
um conditi
ons, vegetati
onandsoi l
ar ecl
osel yl
inkedwi t
heachot herthroughnut r
ie
cycli
ng.Thecy cli
ngofni tr
ogenandcar boni nsoil
si sal
mostcompl etelycont r
olledbythe
presenceofani malsandpl ants.Throughli
tterf
allandthepr ocessofdecomposi ti
on,organ
addhumusandnut r
ientst othesoilwhichinfl
uencessoi lstr
uctureandf erti
li
ty.Sur f
ace
vegetati
onalsopr otect stheupperlayersofasoi lfrom erosi
onbywayofbi ndingt hesoil
s
surfaceandr educingt hespeedofmov i
ngwi ndandwat eracrossthegr oundsur face.

ParentMaterialreferstot herockandmi neralmater

ial
sfrom whi
chthesoil
sdev elop.The
materi
alscanbeder ivedf rom r
esidualsedi
mentduet otheweatheri
ngofbedrockorf rom
sedimenttransportedi ntoanar eabywayoft heerosiv
eforcesofwind,
water,orice.
Pedogenesisisof t
enf asteront ransport
edsedimentsbecausetheweather
ingofpar entm
usuall
ytakesal ongper i
odoft i
me.Thei nfl
uenceofparentmateri
alonpedogenesisisusu
rel
atedtosoiltexture,soilchemi st
ry,andnutr
ientcy
cli
ng.

Topogr aphygener al
lymodi fi
est hedevelopmentofsoi lonal ocalorr egionalscale.Pedog
i
spr i
mar il
yi nfluencedbyt opogr aphy
'sef f
ectonmi croclimateanddr ainage.Soi l
sdev el
op
moder atet ogent leslopesareof tenbetterdrainedt hansoi l
sf oundatt hebot tom ofv al
ley
Gooddr ainageenhancesannumberofpedogeni cpr ocessesofi ll
uv i
ationandeluviati
ont ha
responsi blef orthedev elopmentofsoi lhorizons.Undercondi tionsofpoordr ainage, soi
ls
tobei mmat ure.Steept opographicgradientsinhibi
tt hedev elopmentofsoi lsbecauseof
erosi
on.Er osioncanr etardthedev el
opmentt hrought hecont inuedr emov alofsur face
sediment s.Soi lmicrocli
matei salsoinfl
uencedbyt opogr aphy .IntheNor t
hernHemi spher
southfaci ngsl opestendt obewar meranddr i
erthannor thfacingslopes.Thi sdi f
ferencer
i
nt hesoi lsoft hetwoar easbei ngdif
ferentint ermsofdept h,texture,biologi
cal activi
ty,an
profi
ledev elopment .

Timeinfluencest
hetemporalconsequencesofallofthefact
orsdescri
bedabov e.Manyso
processesbecomesteadystateovert
imewhenasoi l
reachesmat ur
it
y.Pedogenicproces
youngsoi l
sareusual
lyunderact
ivemodi f
icat
iont
hroughnegativ
eandposit
ivefeedback
mechanismsi natt
empttoachieveequil
ibri
um.

Pr
inci
pal
Pedogeni
cPr
ocesses

Alar
genumberofprocessesareresponsi
blefort
heformationofsoil
s.Thi
sfacti
seviden
thel
argenumberofdi
ffer
enttypesofsoil
sthathavebeenclassi
fi
edbysoilsci
ent
ist
s( see
10v)
.However
,atthemacro-scal
ewecansuggestt hatther
earefiv
emai npri
nci
palpedog
processesacti
ngonsoil
s.Thesepr el
ocessesar at
eri
zat
ion,
podzol
i
zat
ion,
cal
cif
icat
ion,
sali
nizat
ion,
andglei
zat
ion.

Lat
erizati
onisapedogeni cpr ocesscommont osoi l
sfoundi ntropicalandsubtropical
envi
ronment s.Hightemper atur
esandheav yprecipit
ationresultinther api
dweat heri
ngof
andmi neral
s.Mov ementsofl argeamount sofwat erthroughthesoi lcauseeluvi
at i
onand
l
eachingt ooccur.Almostal l
oft hebyproduct sofweat hering,verysimplesmall compoun
nut
ri
enti ons,aretr
anslocatedoutoft hesoil pr
ofil
ebyl eachingifnott akenupbypl antsf
o
nut
ri
tion.Thet woexceptionst othisprocessar eir
onandal uminum compounds.I ronoxi
d
gi
vetropicalsoil
stheiruniquereddishcoloring.Heav yleachingalsocausest hesesoi l
sto
anacidicpHbecauseoft henetl ossofbasecat i
ons.

Podzoli
zati
oni sassociatedwithhumi dcoldmi d-
lat i
tudeclimatesandconiferousvegetati
Decompositionofconi f
erouslit
terandheav ysummerpr ecipi
tati
oncreateasoilsolut
iont
str
onglyaci
di c.Thisaci
dicsoilsolut
ionenhancest hepr ocessesofel
uv i
ati
onandl eaching
causi
ngther emov alofsolublebasecationsandal umi num andi r
oncompoundsf r
om theA
hori
zon.Thispr ocesscreatesasub-layerintheAhor izonthatiswhit
et ograyincolorand
composedofsi l
icasand.

Calcifi
cationoccurswhenev apot
ranspirat
ionexceedspr ecipit
ati
oncausingtheupward
mov ementofdissolv
edalkali
nesaltsfr
om t hegroundwat er.Atthesamet i
me, t
hemov em
rainwat ercausesadownwar dmov ementoft hesalt
s.Thenetr esul
tisthedeposit
ionoft
translocatedcati
onsintheBhor i
zon.Insomecases, thesedepositscanform ahardlayer
caliche.Themostcommonsubst ancei nvolvedinthi
spr ocessiscalci
um carbonat
e.
Calcifi
cationiscommoni ntheprair
iegrasslands.

Salini
zati
onisaprocessthatfunct
ionsinthesi
milarwaytocal
ci
ficat
ion.Itdi
ff
ersf
rom
calcif
icat
ioni
nthatthesaltdeposi
tsoccuratorveryneart
hesoil
surface.Sal
ini
zat
ional
so
placeinmuchdr i
ercli
mates.

Glei
zati
onisapedogenicprocessassoci
atedwit
hpoordr ai
nage.Thi
sprocessinvol
vesth
accumulat
ionsoforgani
cmat teri
ntheupperl
ayersofthesoil
.Inl
owerhorizons,
mineral
l
arestai
nedblue-
graybecauseofthechemical
reducti
onofiron.

Fact
orsi
nsoi
lfor
mat
ion
Thef
act
orsi
nvol
vedi
nsoi
lfor
mat
ionar
eti
me,
geol
ogy
,rel
i
ef,
drai
nage,
cli
mat
e,v
eget
ati
onandpeopl

Ti
me
I
ttakesabout1000y
ear
sforonecent
imet
reofsoi
ltof
orm.I
nmanypar
tsofBr
it
ainwehav
ehadonl
y
y
ear
ssi
ncet
hel
astI
ceAgest
ri
ppedt
heor
igi
nal
sur
facesoi
l
saway
.

Geol
ogy
Mi
ner
alsf
rom t
hepar
entmat
eri
alar
eaddedt
othesoi
lbyphy
sical
andchemi
cal
weat
her
ing.

Rel
i
ef
Dif
ferentsoi
lswi
ll
form ondi
ff
erentdegr
eesofsl
opeandaspect
.Gr
avi
tyandt
emper
atur
eswi
l
laf
fect
degreeofslopemovementandweatheri
ng.

Dr
ainage
Whet
herwat
ercanorcannotmov
ethr
ought
hesoi
leasi
l
ywi
l
laf
fectt
hedev
elopmentoft
hesoi
lpr
ofi

Cl
i
mat
e
Howmuchwat erandai
rent
erthesoi
l-andt
hei
rtemper
atur
es-wi
l
laf
fectt
heor
gani
cli
feoft
hesoi
la
evapor
ati
onr
atesonthesur
face.

Veget
ati
on
Thetypeandquant
it
yofpl
antcov
erwi
l
laf
fectt
heamountofor
gani
cmat
eri
aladdedt
othesoi
l
.Thi
s
cal
ledhumus.

Peopl
e
Whenpeoplechangetheangl
eofaslopethr
oughconst
ruct
ion,
orchanget
hev
eget
ati
oncov
erand/
o
dr
ainagei
nanar ea,
thesoi
lwil
lal
sochange.

Thevi
deobel
owshowsasoi
lsci
ent
istexpl
aini
ngwhatsoi
li
sandw
i
tismadefr
om.
Jumpmedi
aplayer
Medi
apl
ayerhel
p
 St
udyGui
de

Addi
ti
onal
Readi
ngs

I
nter
netWebl
i
nks

2.Soi
lFor
mingFact
orsandPr
ocesses
Soi
lPar
entmat
eri
als

I
nawistf
ulal
lusi
ont
othegenet
icsofl
i
vingor
gani
smst
her
awmat
eri
alsf
rom whi
chsoi
l
sfor
m ar
eca
par
entmater
ial
s.

Veget
ati
onest
abl
i
shedonr
ockyi
slet
s,Cost
aRi
ca

Thef ormati
onofanewsoi ldependsont hepresenceofnewsoi lmat er
ial–obtainedei
therbydenud
thescrapingcleanofasur f
acebyact i
onofwi nd,waterorice-ordeposi ti
onofnewmat erial
sfr
om e
elsewhere-forexampl eri
vergravel
s,r
ock-fal
l
sorbl owingsand-ort hef ormati
onofnewr ocksbyup
theoceanbedorv olcani
cacti
on.Thust her
eisahugev ari
etyofpossibl
epar entmateri
als,
allwi
thun
diff
erentcharacter
isti
cswhichwillbei
ncorporatedint
ot hesoil
swhichf orm onthem.

Her
ear
esomeexampl
es:

 Rocks-Sandst
one,
sil
tst
one,
mudst
one,
li
mest
one,
vol
cani
clav
asordust
s
 Gr
avel
s-r
iverandseadeposi
ts
 Scr
ee-f
all
enr
ocks
 Al
l
uvi
um –sands,
sil
ts,
clay
sfr
om mar
ine,
est
uar
ineorf
reshwat
err
iver
sandl
akes
 Boul
dercl
ay-canbev
eryv
ari
abl
edeposi
tsl
aiddownbyscr
api
ngi
ce
 Loess-bl
ownsi
l
tsandcl
aysar
ecommoni
nlandont
hecont
inent
s
 Bl
ownsand-f
ormi
ngdunesorpl
ains
 Manmademat
eri
als–e.
g.quar
ryormi
ningwast
e
est
uar
inesedi
ment
swi
l
lev
ent
ual
l
yfor
m al
l
uvi
alsoi
l
s(Wal
es,
U.K.
)

Soil
sf ormf rom t heseparentmat er
ial
sbypr ocessesofweat heri
ng-i .
e.thebreakdownoft hemat eri
a
theinfl
uenceofgr avit
y,wi
ndandwat er
,accelerat
edbyt hechemi cal andphysicaleff
ectsofplantroo
animal action.Soi lsarealsoformedbyt heformationanddecayofOM andbypedogeni cpr ocesses
l
eachingandev apor at
ingeffect
sofwat erandthebi ochemicalactionsofbacteriaandot herli
vi
ngt hi
n
theil
lustrationabov e,soil
sform asthesilt
yestuarinesedimentsar ecol oni
sedbyhar dyplantswhich
mor esedi ment, andev ent
uallyr
aisethesurfacelevelbeyondther eachofnor mal ti
des.

Read pp.22-26of“
TheNat
ure&Pr
oper
ti
esofSoi
ls”byNCBr
ady(
10th edi
ti
on1990)–orsi
mil
arm
ontheweb.

ALithoser
eisasequenceofveget
ati
onaldevel
opment-successi
on-onter
restr
ialsoi
l
swhi chhave
for
medonapar t
icul
arpar
entmater
ial(PM).Asplantspeci
escol
oniset
hePM, sothesoil
itsel
fbegi
n
change-aprocesscall
edsoi
lfor
mation.

Weonl yseet hestagesoftheser ewherenew, unv egetatedmat eri

alsappear-e.g.naturall
yaswhena
changescour seleavi
ngfreshall
uv i
um orgr avel,orar t
if
iciall
ywherequar ry
ingexposesnewr ock,
sand
gravelorclayfaces.Newmat er
iali
ssomet imesexposedwi t
hinexi
stingecosystems-e. g.Thef alli
n
i
nf orestsexposenewsoi lmateri
alforcolonisat i
on-sosomet imessoi l
formati
onre-startsonmat eri
al
tereddur i
ngapr evi
ousphaseofv eget
ation.Land- sl
ips, ear
thquakes,fl
oods,powerfulwi ndsorv ol
c
acti
viti
escanal soprovi
defreshparentmat er i
als.

2.For
mati
oncondi
ti
ons det
erminet
hety
peofveget
ati
onandt
het
ypeofsoi
lwhi
chwi
l
ldev
elopf
rom
fr
eshPM.Thenat
ureoft
heev ent
ual
soi
li
sdet
erminedby:

a.PM
b.Topogr
aphy-i
.e.sl
opeandl
andf
orm

c.Cl
imat
e-t
hechemi
cal
breakdownoft
hePM i
sinf
luencedbyheatandcol
d,i
cef
ormat
ion,
windet
c

d.Veget at
ionandt
heact i
vit
yofanimals-root
sbi ndsoi
lpart
icl
es,andcleaverocks,whil
stani
mal
sb
i
ntot hesoilandmi
xt hevari
ouscomponent si
ncludi
ngorgani
cmat terf
rom decayingorgani
sms,mi
n
part
iclesandchemicalsproducedbyphysi
cal-chemicalandbiol
ogical
activ
ityinthesoil
.

e.Management(
ormi
s-management
)bypeopl
e-pl
oughi
ng,
fer
ti
li
singet
c.

3.Soi
lfor
mat
ion

canbedi
vi
dedi
ntoI
nput
s,mov
ement/change/or
gani
sat
ion,
andOut
put
s.Theseal
lchangewi
thT

a.Input sincl
udetheor i
ginalPM +organi cmatt erfrom l
ivi
nganddeador ganisms.Ast heveget
ati
on
developsi taddsmat eri
altothesoi
l -byf i
xingcar bonfrom theair
,organi
cmat terorhumusisadded.
fungi,algaeandbact eri
ainthedevelopingsoi lareablet of
reeplantnutri
entsboundi nt
heOM andthe
i
ntof ormsmor eeasilyt
akenupbypl ant
s, sothef erti
li
tygradual
lyi
ncreases.Cer t
ainpl
ant
s,wit
hthe
bacteria,areablet
ot akenitr
ogenfrom theai randf ormi ti
ntonit
ratesandammoni acompoundsinth
againessent ial
nutr
ientsforflower
ingpl antsapr ocessknownasni tr
ogenfi
xati
on.

b.Mov ementoccursinanumberofway s-onsl

opesther
eismovementundergravi
ty.Asveget
ati
on
thelandsurfacet
hetendencyformat
eri
altomov edownsl
opesi
sreduced.Matureveget
ati
onmays
steepslopes.Changeand"organi
sat
ion"i
srel
atedtomovementandoccur
sinanumberofway s:

Root
smouldt
hesoili
ntoaggr
egat
esorpeds,
andmayreleasest
ickysubst
ancesast
heyoper
ateord
Thel
ivi
ngmat
eri
alsandhumusareri
chi
nenergy
,andat
tr
act :

soilani malswhi chmaket unnelst

hr oughthesoil
andingestandegestsoi l materi
als,mixi
ngthem wi
ownsecr etions.Thesoi lbeginstot akeonitsownorganisationorar chi
tectur
e, whichmayi mproven
drainage, andmakenut ri
entsav ai
labletoacompet i
ngfl
or aandf auna.Animal salsobringinmat er
ial
s
theirfeetandsur faces,
especiall
yseedsandspor es,whil
stt helargerandmor emobi l
eanimalsof t
en
mat erial
sf r
om el sewhereinur i
neandf aeces.Thedevel
opi ngsoilisaffectedby:

Cli
mat e.ThespeedofOM decaydependsont emperat
ureandhumi dit
y,whil
strai
nfallwashes(leach
substances-especi
all
ysol ubl
enutri
entsandiron-
ri
chcompounds-f rom theupperlayers(hor
izons)i
l
owerones.I nsomet ropicalcli
matesevaorat
ionofsoi
lwatercausescompoundsl ikesaltstoaccum
thesurfacehori
zons.Onsl opes,materi
alcanbewashedintothesoilfr
om above.Wi ndcanal sobrin
mineralgrai
nsandOM f rom elsewhere.
c.Outputscompriset
hemat eri
alslostf r
om thesoi
l
.Plantmateri
alscanblowaway,orbeeatenbya
andremov ed.Cropplant
sarehar v
est edandr emov
ed.Soilmater
iali
tsel
fcanberemov edbyerosi
on
windwat erandi
ce.Someoft hesubst ancesmovedbyleachi
ngmayent erwat
ercoursesaboveorbe
ground,andbemov edoutofthesy stem.

Podzol
Ther
ear
ethr
eemai
nBr
it
ishsoi
l
s;podzol
,br
ownear
thandgl
ey.

Podzolsareeasi
l
yrecognisabl
ebythei
rdi
sti
nctl
ayer
sorhori
zons.Agr
eyorli
ght
-col
oured'
E'hor
izon
resul
tofseverel
eachi
ng,oreluvi
ati
on,
whi
chwashesoutever
ythi
ngbutquar
tzgr
ains.
El
uvi
ati
oni
sther
emov
alofsoi
l
,cl
ay,
sil
torf
ineor
gani
cmat
teri
nsuspensi
onf
rom asoi
lhor
izon.

Their
onandalumini
um oxi
descol
l
ectinthe'
B'hor
izonwheret
hei
ronoxi
descanaccumul
atet
ofor
m
l
ayerofhar
dpan,whi
chimpedesdrai
nagethr
oughthesoi
l.

I
ll
uviat
ioni
sthepr
ocessofdepositi
onofsoi
lmateri
alremovedf
rom onehor
izontoanot
her
,usual
l
yf
uppertoal
owerhori
zonasmat er
iali
swasheddownpr ofi
l
ebypercol
ati
ngwater.Somei
ronandal
um
oxi
desgetthr
oughthei
ronhardpan,gi
vi
ngthi
s'B'hori
zonit
sdul
lorangecol
our.

Thesesoil
saref
oundwherether
eisgooddr
ainageandsoi
lwateri
sst
ronglyaci
dic.Theytendt
obef
ontheuppersl
opesofupl
andareaswher
epreci
pit
ati
onisheav
yorwherethevegetati
onisconi
fer
ou
produci
nganacidhumus.
Theacidi
ccondi
ti
onsar
enotl
i
kedbysoi
lor
gani
smswhi
chwoul
dnor
mal
l
ymer
get
heboundar
iesoft
hor
izons.

Br
ownear
th
Br
ownear
thsoi
l
sar
ewi
despr
eadi
nBr
it
ain,
excepti
nhi
ghl
andar
eas.

Soi
lor
gani
sms,
li
keear
thwor
ms,
mixt
hemat
eri
alst
oget
her
,mer
gingt
heboundar
iesbet
weent
hehor
Thesesoi
l
sareleached,
butnotheav
il
y,sot
heal
umi
nium andi
ronoxi
desar
edi
sper
sedt
hrought
hes
gi
vetheover
all
browncolour
.

Theor
igi
nal
veget
ati
onwasdeci
duousf
orest
,resul
ti
ngi
nal
ayerofdecay
ingl
eav
esgi
vi
ngar
ichhum

Thedeeproot
softheset
reesr
eacheddownt ot
he'
B'hor
izon,
unl
i
kewi
thconi
fer
oust
rees,
tappi
ngt
h
nut
ri
entsuppl
yandall
owi
nggooddr ai
nage.
Soi
lst
ruct
ure(
proper
ti
es)

Soi
lshav
efourmai
npar
ts:
wat
er,
air
,mi
ner
alsandor
gani
cmat
ter
,thei
rrel
ati
onshi
pspr
oducea
numberofpr
oper
ti
esf
oundi
nsoi
lwhi
char
eout
li
nedbel
ow.

Ref
erst
otheshapeofpeds(
indi
vi
dual
soi
lpar
ti
cles)andt
hei
rgr
oupi
ng.Theshapeofpeds,
thei
r
al
i
gnment
s,al
ongwi
thpar
ti
clesi
ze/
text
uredet
ermi
nest
hesi
zeandnumberofpor
espaces.
St
ruct
urecanbei
mpr
ovedbypl
oughi
ng.

Soi
ltext
ure:

Howf
ineorcour
set
hemi
ner
almat
teri
sint
hesoi
lthati
sdependentont
heamountofsand,
sil
tand
cl
aypar
ti
clesi
nthesoi
l
.

Thet
ext
uresofdi
ff
erentsoi
lsar
eshownbel
ow:

Soi
lnut
ri
ent
s(bases)
:

Chemi
cal
element
sint
hesoi
lar
evi
tal
forpl
antgr
owt
handsoi
lfer
ti
li
ty.Theycomef
rom r
ainwat
er,
f
ert
il
iz
er,
par
entr
ock,
decay
ingor
gani
cmat
terandcl
ay.Mi
ner
alsf
rom decay
ingor
gani
cmat
terar
e
posi
ti
vel
ychar
gedi
ons(
cat
ions)
,thosef
rom cl
ayar
enegat
ivel
ychar
gedi
ons(
ani
ons)
.

Exchangest
hatoccurar
eknownascat
ionex
changeandt
hisi
swher
ebasesar
emadeav
ail
abl
efor
pl
ant
s.

Soi
lmoi
stur
e:

Thi
sisi
mpor
tantbecausei
tinf
luencesupwar
danddownwar
dmov
ementofnut
ri
ent
sandwat
eri
n
t
hesoi
l
.

Ot
herpr
oper
ti
esofsoi
li
ncl
udet
emper
atur
e,aci
dit
y,bi
ota,
air
,or
gani
candi
nor
gani
cmat
ter
.

Soi
lfor
mat
ionpr
ocesses

Tr
ansl
ocat
ion

I
ncl
udesnumer
ouspr
ocessesbuti
spr
imar
il
ythedownwar
dmov
ementofwat
erormat
eri
alsi
nsoi
l
.
Themai
nfeat
uresoft
ransl
ocat
ionar
eshownbel
ow:

Pr
ocessest
hatcomeundert
heheadi
ngoft
ransl
ocat
ioni
ncl
ude:

Leachi
1. ng:Wher
esol
ubl
emat
eri
ali
sremov
edi
nsol
uti
on.
 Chel
2. uvi
ati
on:Wheni
ronandal
umi
num sesqui
oxi
desar
eremov
edduet
ochel
ati
ngagent
s.
 I
3.l
luvi
ati
on:Mat
eri
alr
e-deposi
tedi
nthel
owerhor
izons.

Soi
lty
pesandexampl
es

Zonalsoi
ls

Thesear
ecl
assi
fi
edonagl
obal
scal
eandhav
ecl
i
mat
east
hemaj
ordet
ermi
ningf
act
or.Theyar
e
mat
ure,
hav
edi
sti
nctpr
ofi
l
esandcl
earhor
izons.Theyar
est
rongl
yti
edt
ocl
imat
icr
egi
onsas
showni
nthechar
tbel
ow:

Cl
imat
eZone: Soi
lTy
pe:

Ar
cti
c Tundr
a

Medi
ter
raneanMedi
ter
ranean

Deser
t Redy
ell
owdeser
t

Equat
ori
al Lat
osol
s

Azonalsoi
ls

Farmor
erecent
,andsoi
lfor
mingpr
ocesseshav
enotbeeni
noper
ati
onf
orl
ong.Hor
izonsar
e
uncl
earandt
heyar
enotl
i
nkedwi
thcl
i
mat
eandv
eget
ati
on.Thei
rimmat
uri
tyi
sar
esul
tofhi
gh
al
ti
tudes,
lowt
emper
atur
esandsl
owdecayofor
gani
cmat
ter
.Exampl
esi
ncl
udescr
ee,
til
land
v
olcani
csoi
l
.

I
ntr
azonalsoi
ls

Soi
l
sfoundwi
thi
nthecl
i
mat
ebel
tar
edi
ff
erentf
rom nor
mal
,theyar
ear
esul
tofadomi
nantl
ocal
f
act
or,
forexampl
e,par
entr
ock.Thr
eet
ypesexi
st:

1. Cal
comor
phi
c/cal
car
eoussoi
l
s:whi
chdev
eloponl
i
mest
one.
2. Hy
dromor
phi
csoi
ls:wher
ewat
ercont
enti
sal
way
shi
gh.
3. Hal
omor
phi
csoi
ls:sal
i
neduet
ohi
ghsal
tlev
el.

Podsol

Dev
elopsi
fpr
eci
pit
ati
onexceedsev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion.Of
tensoi
l
sar
esandy
,coni
fer
ousf
orestexi
sts
andt
hecl
i
mat
eiscool
.At
ypi
calpodsoli
sshownbel
ow:

Leachi
ngi
sint
ense,
humusaci
dic,
andhor
izonsar
ebl
eachedasi
ron,
alumi
nium andor
gani
cmat
ter
i
sremov
ed.Hor
izonsar
ecl
earast
hecool
condi
ti
onsl
eadt
oaci
dicsoi
l
s,whi
chdonotencour
age
ear
thwor
ms.

Br
ownear
ths

Thesear
emoder
atel
yorwel
l
-dr
ainedsoi
l
s,f
oundwher
epr
eci
pit
ati
onex
ceedspot
ent
ial
ev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion,
andpar
ti
clesmov
edownwar
dthr
ought
hesoi
l
.Theyar
ethemai
nsoi
li
ntheUK
duet
othewar
mtemper
atecl
i
mat
e.Annual
leaff
all
cont
ainsnut
ri
ent
sandmul
ldev
elopswhi
chi
s
f
ert
il
ehumus.Tophor
izonsar
edar
kandbecomel
i
ght
eri
ntheBhor
izonasl
eachi
ngandel
uvi
ati
on
occur
.Thesoi
li
sreasonabl
yfer
ti
le.
 S-
CoolRev
isi
onapps

TheS-
cool
Memor
yAppcont
ains52pr
ovenmemor
yti
psandt
ri
ckst
ohel
pyour
emembery
our
GCSEandA-
Lev
elr
evi
sionnot
esandi
ncr
easey
ourov
eral
lmemor
ypower
.

Cl
ickher
etoDownl
oad>>

Mor
eAppsatt
heS-
cool
Shop

Soi
lpr
ofi
l
esHumani
mpactonsoi
l
s
Rev
isequi
cker

 Getr
evi
siongui
des
Maki
n'TheSoi
l
Theprocessofsoi
lformati
onhappensi
nmanyways.Herear
efi
veof
themostimport
antfactor
sinv
olvedi
nsoil
for
mat
ion.Ther
eareot
her
s,
butt
hesearethebiggi
es.

(1)Itcanbecr eatedbecauseoft heshapeofthelandscape.Thatshape

i
scal l
edthet opography.Wheny ouhav emountai
ns,thesidesofthe
mount ai
nsaresai dtohav easl ope.Wheny ouhaveaslopeandi trai
ns,
ther
ewi llbedrainage.Ther unoffcar
riesawaysmallrocksandmi neral
s.
Thisrunoffwindsupi nv al
leysori nt
heocean.Itsl
owlybuildsupandt he
smal lpi
ecesmakesoi l
.

(2)Ther earecli
mat i
ceffect
sthatcreat esoil
.Moi stureandraincombi ne
wi ththetemperaturetodoamazingt hingstor ocks.Wej ustexpl ai
ned
thatwheni trai
nsy ouhaverunoffander osion.Thosephy si
calact i
vi
ti
es
breakdownt herocksandhardsur f
aces.Temper atureplaysar olewhen
youmov ebelowandabov et
hefreezingpoi nt.Whenwat erfr
eez es,i
t
ex pands.Rocksandsoi lt
hathol
dwat ercanbecr ackedwhent hewat er
freezesandexpands.Theypopopenwi t
hacr ackingsound!

(3)What'si
nt hesoil
isdependentongeol
ogi
cfactors.Thetypeofsoil
underyourfeetisdependentonthebedr
ockdeepbelowt hesurf
ace.As
thebedrockbreaksdown, smal
lerpi
ecesmovetothesurfaceandmi x
witht
heex i
stingsoil
.

(4)I
nthesamewayt hattherear
elargegeol ogicf
actors,chronological
fact
orsplayani mport
antparti
nthepr ocess.Chronologi
calmeanst ime.
Youneedt i
met omakesoi l
.That'
sit.Sedimentcanmov earoundqui ckl
y
butitt
akesal ongti
met obreakdownbedr ock.Wecan'tjustsitand
watchthi
spr ocesshappen.Wehav etost udyitovermanyy ears.Also,i
f
wepoll
uteoursoi
lwecan'
trenewi
tinourl
i
fet
ime.I
ttakeshundr
edst
o
t
housandsofyear
s.

(5)Soilisalsocreatedbybi ol
ogical f
actors.You'l
l f
indt hatsoili
shalf
minerals/r
ocksandhal fair/water.Allsort
sofbi ologicalthingsare
happeningi ntheair/waterspace.Theor ganicmat eriali
smost
i
mpor tant.Therearet i
nyl i
vingor gani
sms( l
i
kebact eria)thatbreakdown
organi
cst uff.The"stuff"couldbedeadl eavesordeadani mals.The
organi
cst uffiscall
edhumus.Ther ear ealsorootsandt unneli
ng
creat
urest hatworkl i
ket hemi crobes.Theyt urnthesoi laroundand
mov eit.Theychurnt hepi ecesofsoi l
.

Thewor
lddesi
reswood;
thet
imberi
ndust
ryi
sher
etosuppl
yit
.Ani
ncr
easi
nghuman

popul
ati
ondesi
resf
ood;
far
mer
sar
eher
etosuppl
yit
.Howcant
hedemandsf
or

f
arml
and,
woodandwoodpr
oduct
sber
econci
l
edwi
tht
hepr
eser
vat
ionoff
orest
s?

Mostdef
orest
ati
on,
ashasbeenpoi
ntedout
,resul
tsf
rom ex
ploi
tat
ionoff
orest
sto

gener
atef
orei
gnex
changeort
opr
ovi
desubsi
stence.Thi
smeanst
hatr
ainf
orest
scan

onl
ybesav
edbyf
indi
ngal
ter
nat
ivest
osubsi
stencegoods(
food,
mat
eri
alsf
or

const
ruct
ion,
fuel
s)t
akenf
rom r
ainf
orest
s,bypr
ovi
dingal
ter
nat
ivest
ocur
rentex
por
t

goods,
andbyusi
ngf
orestpr
oduct
ssust
ainabl
y.

Manysol
uti
onst
othepr
obl
em oft
ropi
cal
rai
nfor
estl
osshav
ebeenpr
oposed,
buti
twi
l
l

t
akeacombi
nat
ionofmanyact
ionst
osl
owt
hedest
ruct
ionoft
ropi
cal
rai
nfor
est
s.

Ther
eisdi
sagr
eementabouthowf
orest
smi
ghtbestbepr
eser
ved,
andhowt
oreconci
l
e

t
heneedf
orf
orestpr
oduct
swi
tht
heneedf
orconser
vat
ion.For
mer
ly,
prot
ect
ionofol
d-
 gr
owt
hfor
est
sbykeepi
ngt
hem i
ntactwast
hepr
efer
redmodel
.Mor
erecent
ly,
int
he

1980’
s,t
heconceptoff
orestdy
nami
sm andt
hepot
ent
ial
forr
egener
ati
onwas

ascendant
.Nowt
hatsomuchf
oresthasdi
sappear
ed,
str
esshasbeenl
aidont
heabi
l
ity

off
ragment
s,l
oggedf
orest
sandsecond-
growt
hfor
est
stoconser
veatl
eastsome

bi
odi
ver
sit
y.Si
ncei
tseemsi
mpossi
blet
okeephumansawayf
rom f
orest
s,wemust

di
scov
erway
stopr
eser
vet
hem i
nconj
unct
ionwi
thsomehumanact
ivi
ti
es.Whatar
e

somemeanswhi
chcanbeusedt
osav
erai
nfor
est
s?

 1)Dr
ast
icr
educt
ionofhumanpopul
ati
ongr
owt
h

 2)I
mpr
ovementofl
anduse

 3)I
mpr
ovementoff
orestmanagement

 4)I
nst
it
uti
onofchangesi
npubl
i
cpol
i
ciest
owar
dfor
est
s

 5)Pr
otect
ionoff
orestl
and

 6)I
mpr
ovementofagr
icul
tur
almet
hodsandpr
oduct
ivi
ty

 7)Modi
fi
cat
ionofeconomi
candl
egal
syst
ems

 8)Reduct
ionofsoci
alandeconomi
cimbal
ances

 9)Reduct
ionofant
hropogeni
cef
fect
sonf
orest
s

 10)Ut
il
iz
ati
onofi
ndi
genousspeci
esf
orr
esour
ces

 11)Est
abl
i
shmentofnat
ional
cent
ersf
ort
heconser
vat
ionoft
hreat
enedand

endanger
edspeci
es

 12)I
ncr
easei
nbasi
cresear
chont
ropi
cal
rai
nfor
est
s

 13)Regar
dingt
ropi
cal
rai
nfor
estpr
eser
vat
ionasanasseti
neconomi
ccal
cul
ati
ons

 14)I
nst
it
uti
onofeconomi
cmeasur
esf
avor
abl
etor
ainf
orestpr
eser
vat
ion
 15)Ref
ormat
ionoft
radepol
i
cies

 16)Reduct
ionofpov
ert
y,bot
hur
banandr
ural

 17)“
Communi
ty-
based”conser
vat
ion

 18)Pr
omot
ionoft
her
ight
sofi
ndi
genouspeopl
es

 19)I
ncr
easi
ngi
nter
nat
ional
pressur
es

 20)I
mpr
ovi
ngenv
ironment
aleducat
ion

 21)Reduct
ionofwast
e

 22)Reduct
ionofdemand

 23)Mar
ketr
efor
m

 24)Car
eofsecondar
yfor
est
s

 25)Thi
nki
ngonal
argescal
e

Soi
l
s

Soi
list
hemi neral
andor ganicmat
eri
alontheear
th’
ssurf
acewhichpr
ovi
desthenecessi
tiesf
or
pl
antgrowth.I
tisali
veanddy nami
c.Soil
sarecompl
exesinwhi
chchemical
,phy
sicaland
bi
ologi
calacti
vi
tytakesplace.

Soi
li
sdy
nami
cbecausei
tchangesi
nresponset
ochangi
ngenv
ironment
alcondi
ti
ons.

Pedol
ogy

i
sthest
udyofsoi
l
s.

Pedogenesi
s

i
sthepr
ocessofsoi
lfor
mat
ion.

Soi
lpr
ofi
l
e

I
tismadeupofdist
inctl
ayer
sorhor
izons.Theupperl
ayer/hor
izonsareAandBwhi
char
eabl
e
t
osupportpl
ant
s.Thesearemadeupofmi ner
alsandorgani
cmat er
ial
.

Thel
owesthor
izonC,iscomposedoftheparentr
ocki
nthefor
m ofei
thersol
i
drockoraspar
tl
y
weat
her
edrock.Hor
izonCisentir
elyminer
al i
ncomposi
ti
on
Cl
assi
fi
cat
ionofsoi
l
s
Zonal
classi
fi
cat
ion
Thi
sisbaseonthepremisethatmatur
esoi
lsdevel
opoveral
ongper
iodoft
imetoa
poi
ntwherether
eisequi
l
ibri
um betweent
hesoil
andit
senvir
onment
,mainl
ycl
i
mate
andveget
ati
on.
Zonal
soi
l
s
Thesearesoil
sthathavedevel
opedoveralongper i
odofti
meandhav ebecome
mature.
thesoil
sareinequi
li
bri
um wi
ththeirenv
ironmentnamelycl
imateand
veget
ati
on.Thesoilsnol
ongerhavet
hestrongeffectori
nfl
uenceoftheparentr
ockand
haveadisti
nctprof
il
e.
I
ntr
azonal
soi
l
s
Thesear
esoil
swhosedev el
opmenthasbeenint
err
upt
edinthei
rdevelopmentbythe
i
nfl
uenceoref
fectofonesoi
lfor
mingfact
orsuchasgroundwaterorparentr
ock.
Azonal
soi
l
s
Thesear
eimmaturesoi
l
swhichhav
eonlystar
tedt
odevelop.Theyshownodi
sti
nct
prof
il
eandexi
stonnewall
uvi
almat
eri
alsandonsanddunes.
Soi
ler
osi
on/det
eri
orat
ion
Causesofsoi
ler
osi
on
Soi
ler
osi
onoccursundernat
ural
condi
ti
onsbuti
sof
tencausedoraccel
erat
edby
humanact
ivi
ti
esoract
ions.
Humancausesofsoi
ler
osi
on
Def
orest
ati
on
Theremov alofsurf
acevegetat
ion.Thi
sisdonewhenpeopl eclearlandforagri
cul
tur
al
purposesorculti
vat
ionandforsettl
ement.Thi
sleavesthelandbar eandexposedto
agentsoferosionsuchaswindandwat er
.Attimesthetreesaref el
ledwit
houtany
repl
anti
ng.Raindropimpactisincr
easedandrunoffisacceler
ated.
Ov
erst
ocki
ng

Ov
ergr
azi
ng
Ov
ercul
ti
vat
ion
Poorf
armi
ngmet
hods
St
ream bankcul
ti
vat
ion
Pl
oughi
ngal
ongsl
opes
Monocul
tur
e

Ev
idenceofsoi
ler
osi
on
 Exposedpl
antr
oot
s
 Exposedr
ocks
 Muddywat
er
 Si
l
tat
ionofr
iver
s.
 Dev
elopmentofgul
l
ies.
 Lossofsoi
lfer
ti
li
ty
 Reducedy
iel
ds
 Depl
eti
nghumuscont
entofsoi
l
.
 Reducedwat
err
etent
ion.
 I
ncr
easeddr
oughtduet
oreducedev
apot
ranspi
rat
ion.
 Dustbowl
s.

Ty
pesofsoi
ler
osi
on
Sheeter
osi
on
Thi
siseven/uni
for
mfl
owofwat erandsoi
ldownsl
opewhi
cht
akespl
aceov
ert
he
sur
faceoftheeart
hwher
ether
ei snochannel
.
Gul
l
yer
osi
on
Occur
sinirr
egul
arearthsurf
acechannel
sdugbywater
.Thewat
ercut
sdeepgul
l
iesdue
t
oitserosi
vepower.Thelandbecomesdissect
ed.
Rai
ndr
opspl
asher
osi
on
Soi
lconser
vat
ion
Af
for
est
ati
on
Ref
orest
ati
on
Planti
ngoftr
eessuchasshr
ubsprotect
sthesoil
byreduci
ngthemechani
cal
beat
ingof
therai
n,reducesr
unof
fandincr
easesthesoi
l’
smoistur
ereser
ves.
Cont
ourpl
oughi
ng
Theconst
ruct
ionofr
idgesandf
urr
owspr
eventt
hedownsl
opemov
ementofsoi
l
.
Ter
raci
ng
Theconst
ruct
ionofst
epsonhi
l
lsl
opest
oreducet
hespeedofwat
eront
hesl
ope.
St
ri
pfar
ming
Thi
sist
hegr
owi
ngofcr
opsi
nter
sper
sedi
nst
ri
psacr
ossasl
ope.
Ret
aini
ngwal
l
s
Thesear
ewal
l
sbui
l
tati
nter
val
stohol
dbackt
hesoi
l
.
Wi
ndbr
eaks
Pl
anti
ngoft
reessuchashedger
owst
obl
ockwi
nd.I
tisi
mpor
tanti
nar
easwher
e
st
rongwi
ndsremovesoi
ls.
Cr
opr
otat
ion
Thegrowingofdi
ffer
entt
ypesofcr
opsont
hesamepieceofl
andhel
psbui
l
dsoi
l
fer
ti
li
tyandenabl
esthesoi
ltohol
dmoremoist
ure.
Conser
vat
ionf
armi
ng
Thi
sseekstobuil
dupoi sturer
eserv
es.Areasofl
andarel
eftf
all
owandweedsar
ekept
down.Thi
sreducesevapot r
anspi
rat
ionr
atesandenabl
essoil
moistur
etobui
l
dup.Thi
s
i
smosteffect
iveindr
yar easwherewinderosi
onisver
yeff
ecti
ve.

Soi
lchar
act
eri
sti
cs
Fact
orsi
nfl
uenci
ngt
hedev
elopmentofsoi
l
Soi
lfor
mingpr
ocesses
Weat
her
ing
 I
st hebr
eakdownofrockmat eri
albyphysi
calandchemicalmeans.Thisprov
ides
thebasi
csoilmat
eri
al.Therateofweather
ingandthet y
peofweatheri
ng
dependslar
gel
yoncli
mat e.Weatheri
ngrel
easescoll
oidsandbasesfrom par
ent
 r
ock.andt
hesear
edi
str
ibut
edt
hrought
hesoi
lbyt
heper
col
ati
onofsoi
lwat
er.
Leachi
ngandenr
ichment

humi
fi
cat
ion
Soi
lty
pes
Soi
lpr
ofi
l
es
Tr
opi
cal
soi
lcat
ena/
ther
oleofsl
opesi
nsoi
lfor
mat
ion
El
uvi
ati
on
I
ll
uvi
ati
on
Upwar
dcapi
l
lar
ymov
ementofwat
erandmi
ner
als
Soi
lfer
ti
li
ty
Soi
ler
osi
onpr
ocessesandsol
uti
ons
Thehumani
mpact
Sust
ainabl
emanagementofsoi
li
nsomear
eas
Soi
lcat
ena
 Thi
sref
erst
othedi
ff
erencesi
nsoi
lty
pesandchar
act
eri
sti
csf
rom t
het
opofa
sl
opedownwar
d.
 I
tisthedif
fer
entsoil
sthatarefounddownaslopewi
theachsoi
lfacetshowi
ng
di
ffer
entchar
acter
ist
icsbutall
occurri
ngi
nthesamecli
mateandont hesame
underl
yi
ngparentmateri
al.
 Acatenashowsthel
ater
alvar
iat
ionsi
nsoi
l
soverahi
l
lsl
opewher
ethecl
i
mat
e
andparentmat
eri
ali
sthesamef r
om t
heoptot
hebot
tom.
 Theslopevar
iesi
ngr
adi
ent.Thet
opissteepanderosi
ontakespl
aceeasi
l
y
whil
ethebott
om i
sgent
lerandmater
ial
stendt
oaccumulate.
 Itil
lustr
atesthewayinwhi chsoil
schangedownasl opewher ether
eareno
markedchangesi ncli
mat eandparentmateri
alwhensuffi
cientti
mehaspassed
forequil
ibri
um tobereachedbetweenprocessesthatbr
ingmat eri
alsi
ntoaf
acet
andt heprocessest
hattakemat eri
alaway.
 Eachcatenashowsanexampl
eofasmal
l
-scal
eopensy
stem wi
thi
tsi
nput
s,
processesandout
put
s.
 Thesl
opei
tsel
fisi
nadel
i
cat
est
ateofdy
nami
c/changi
ngequi
l
ibr
ium wi
tht
he
 soi
lsandlandfor
msbeinginastat
eoffl
ux/f
lowandwheret
her
ati
oofer
osi
on
anddeposit
ionvari
esbet
weenthedif
fer
entsoi
lfacet
s.
 Thesl
opei
sdi
videdint
oorbr
okeni
ntosect
ionsknownasar
idge,
crest
,mi
d-
sl
opeandt
oe-
slope.
Thel
owersl
ope/
Toesl
ope/
upperpar
t
 Soil
sont hel
owerslopest
endtobedeeperandhasmoremoist
ureorwett
er
thanthoseontheuppersl
ope.Thesoil
sonthel
oweri
salsor
ichert
hanthe
upperslopeduetol
eachedmateri
als.
 Ri
cheri
ncl
ayandor
gani
cmat
ter
.
 Thesoi
l
sar
ethi
ckerordeeperbecauset
heygai
nmat
eri
alsduet
oil
uvi
ati
on.
 Wat
ercont
enti
shi
gheront
hel
owerpar
toft
hehi
l
lsl
ope.
Themi
ddl
esl
ope/
cent
ral
slope
 I
sthet
hinnestanddr
iest
.
 Themai
npr
ocessi
sthet
ranspor
tat
ionofmat
eri
alsont
hemi
ddl
eoft
hesl
ope.
Thecr
estorst
eepersl
ope
 I
sfr
eel
ydr
ained.
 Thesoi
l
sar
ethi
norshal
l
owanddr
ierduet
orun-
offduet
oexposur
e.
 Thesoi
l
sl osemateri
alssuchasmi
ner
alsal
tswher
etheyar
ewashedawayby
rai
nwater(el
uvi
ati
on)
 Steepsl
opesencouragemov ementdownthesloperat
hert
hanthr
oughthesoil
.
Thismeansthatnutri
ent
sar ewasheddownsl
ope,al
ongwithsmal
lpar
ti
cles.
Thishasaneffectonthetextur
eandpHofthesoil
.
Asoilcatenaiscreatedbyabalanceofpr
ocessessuchaspr
eci
pit
ati
on,
infi
lt
rat
ionand
runof
f.Thesoilcatenasdevel
opinstabl
eenvi
ronmentswher
ether
eareli
tt
lechangesi
n
cli
mateandl andscape.
Thei
mpor
tanceofasoi
lcat
ena
 I
sthev
ari
ati
onofsoi
l
sacr
ossasmal
lar
easuchasasl
ope.
 Thi
shel
psi
nthemappi
ngofsoi
l
sacr
ossagi
venr
egi
on.
 Soi
lcat
enashel
ptounder
standt
hei
nfl
uenceofsoi
lhy
drol
ogyonsoi
lfor
mat
ion.
 Soi
lcatenasalsohelpusunder
standt
hehist
oryofthel
andsurf
ace,i
tshydrol
ogy
,
er
osion,sedi
menttranspor
tanddeposi
ti
onaswellaspedogeni
cprocesses.
  I
nthef
iel
dithel
psusunder
standpr
ocessesoper
ati
ngwi
thi
nthesoi
lsuchas;
 Thedepthofor
gani
cmatt
er.I
tisli
nkedwi
thcycl
ingef
fi
ciency
,wet
ness,
temper
atur
eandaci
dit
ybyanaly
zingit
sst
ruct
ure.
 Redandgr
eycol
our
sindi
cat
etheoxi
dat
ionst
atus.
 Leachi
ngprocessescanbededucedf
rom accumul
ati
onl
owerdowni
nthe
soi
lprof
il
e.
 Humanact
ivi
ti
esar
einf
luencedbysoi
lqual
i
ty.

Thesoi
lcat
ena

Thecat enaconcepti nsoilsciencecomesf r

om t heLat i
nwor d“catena”whi chmeans
chain.Soitisachainofsoi lsl
inkedbyt opography.Italsoreferstoasequenceofsoi l
s
i
ndi ffer
entpositi
onsint helandscape.I twasi nt
roducedt ot hescienti
ficlit
er atureby
Geof f
reyMilne(1898-1942)inapaperent i
tl
ed“ Somesuggest edunitsofcl assi fi
cation
and mappi ng par t
icul
arlyf or East Af r
ican soi l
s” published in Soi lResear ch-
BodenkundlicheForschung,Suppl ementt ot hePr oceedingsoft heInternationalUni on
ofSoi lSci
enceVol.IVNo.3( 1935) ,pp:183- 198.Henot ed“ theregularrepet i
tionofa
cert
ainsequenceofsoi lprofi
lesinassoci ati
onwi t
ht opography”inEastAf ricawhi ch
wasal soobservedearli
er(in1911and1912)byt heGer manPet erVagel er.Mi l
newr ote
that"adisti
ncti
vewor disneededi nreferri
ngt othisphenomenon"hence,hepr oposed
thewor dcatena.

Er
nstSchli
chti
ng(1923-1988)whowaspr ofessorattheUni ver
sit
yofHohenhei mi n
St
uttgar
tpioneer
ed the approach ofconsi deri
ng the soi
lal ways as partoft he
l
andscape.He proposed thatsoilsi n di
fferentpositi
ons int he cat
ena exchange
materi
alst
hroughtransportprocessesandt huscouldbecompar edt othetransf
er
pr
ocessesbetweenhorizonsinasoi lprofi
l
e.Heandhi sstudentshav eshownthatthe
downwar dtr
anspor
tofsolidsorsolut
ionsmayleadtoadi r
ectoranindir
ectlinkage
between cat
ena elements(Sommerand Schl i
cht
ing,1997;see abovefigure).In
Schli
cht
ing’
sview,t
hegenesisofasoil
canonlybeunderst
oodifi
tsr
elat
iont
ot heother
soi
lsinthecatenai
stakeni
ntoconsi
derati
on.