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decay and nutrient cyclingsoil organisms are the chief agents of decay of organic matter decomposition and mineralisation of organic matter results
influence of associated ionsthe second important factor influencing the plant uptake of a given cation is the effects of the ions held in association
cation saturation and nutrient absorption by plantsthe availability of adsorbed cations is not always so easy as the above explanation might suggest
nutrient availabilityyou have seen that cation exchange plays an important part in nutrient availability to plants cation exchange functions in two
cation exchange capacitythe adsorption of a cation by a colloid nucleus or micelle and the accompanying release of one or more ions held by the
aerationa well-aerated soil is one in which gases are available to plant roots and other soil organisms in sufficient quantities and in proper
permeabilitypermeability is the ability of a soil to transmit water or air permeability or infiltration rate is measured in terms of the rate of
available and non-available wateryou have seen above that water is present even in the apparently dry soils but it is of not much use as far as the
hygroscopic coeflicientto have a more complete picture of soil moisture relations let us take a soil sample and oven dry it for 24 hours at 11oc now
retention of soil moisturethe movement of water into and within the soil moisture storing capacity of soils and the availability of moisture to
forms of soil watergravitational water or ground water after a heavy rain or irrigation much of the water drains or sinks downwards this is called
soil watersoil water relationship is very important in the fist place the supply of large quantities of water is necessary to satisfy the
light and heavy soilsthe presence of silt and especially clay in a soil imparts to it a fine texture and a slow water and air movement such a soil is
aeolianwind transported materials constitute this category this can be further divided into dunes or loess dunes are found in thramp types of
alluvialmaterials of this categoya re deposited by running water in the form offroodplains river terraces deltas and alluvial fans these deposits
colluvialthese are the soils formed from the material transported by the pull of gravity fragments from cliffs or steep rocky slopes become dislodged
transported soilsthese soils are formed from the weathered material which is transported and deposited away from the site of origin depending upon
residual soilsresidual soils are formed at the same site where the weathering of the parent rock has taken place or soils formed in situ from the
mineralisation and humificationas a result of physical weathering the rocks are broken down into smaller particles but this is not the true soil and
chemical weatheringthe rocks while getting disintegrated may also undergo chemical change water is an important agent in bringing about chemical
physical weatheringmechanical forces acting upon the rocks cause physical weathering temperature fluctuations cause expansion and contraction of rock
soil-environmental componentsthe word soil is derived from latin word solum meaning earthy material in which plants grow the soil is the consolidated
ecological adaptations in animals to desert environmentin response to scarcity of water animats adcipt vario6s strategies to conserve or prevent loss
non-succulent perennialsthese are actually the true xerophytes or drought resistants because they possess a number of morphological anatomical and
types of xerophyteson the basis of their mbrphology physiology and life cycle pattern xerophytes are generally classified into the following