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Madi Meier - Healthy soils, a necessity for the EU

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Madi Meier - Healthy soils, a necessity for the EU

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Maintaining and restoring our soils is key to achieve climate neutrality, zero pollution, sustainable food provision and a resilient environment.

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Madi Meier - 10 facts about healthy soil

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Madi Meier - 10 facts about healthy soil

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The soil is made up of air, water, decayed plant residue, organic matter, and minerals, such as sand, silt, and clay. Increasing soil organic matter typically improves soil health, as this organic matter affects several critical soil functions. Healthy soils are also porous, which allows air and water to move freely through them. This balance ensures a suitable habitat for soil organisms that support growing plants. Franklin Roosevelt's statement, "The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself," is as true today as it was 75 years ago.

There are a few easy ways to improve soil health: till the soil as little as possible; grow as many different species of plants as possible through rotations and a diverse mixture of cover crops; keep living plants in the ground as long as possible with crops and cover crops; and maintain the dirt covered with residue year-round.

Food Tank is featuring ten facts about healthy soil that we hope will inspire eaters, businesses, researchers, scientists, funders, donors, and policymakers to create-and support-a more sustainable food system.

1. It takes 2,000 years for natural processes to make 10 centimeters of fertile soil from bedrock. Unfortunately, around 24 billion tons of topsoil are lost every year due to agriculture and erosion, which is over 3 tons per person, according to the Nature Conservancy.

2. If you want your soil to be healthy, then you should not see it that often, says the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Keeping the soil covered all the time makes sense when you realize that the microorganisms living in the ground need food and protection to survive-just like other living creatures.

3. According to researchers at the World Agroforestry Centre, maintaining diverse forestry systems-forests that contain different types of trees-is an effective way to keep soil healthy.

4. Fence rows usually have the healthiest soil on farms. The USDA reports that tillage reduces organic matter content and increases erosion because tilling soil causes pores to collapse and seal over.

5. The Slow Food Foundation says that one hectare of healthy soil contains 15 tons of organisms, equivalent to the weight of 20 cows.

6. Healthy soil with high organic matter can store 20 times its weight in water, says FAO. Retaining water is crucial for improving resilience to droughts.

7. The USDA states that if the top six inches of soil had just one percent of organic matter, then soil could hold approximately 27,000 gallons of water per acre.

8. According to an article in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, advanced analytical and computational tools suggest that approximately one billion bacterial cells reside in a single gram of soil.

9. The Status of the World's Soil Resources, a FAO publication, states that 16 nutrients are essential for plant growth and living organisms in the soil. These nutrients are categorized as either macro- or micro-nutrients. Both categories are crucial for plant development, but macronutrients, like carbon and nitrogen, are the most important.

10. Lastly, the FAO found that sustainable soil management has the potential to produce up to 58 percent more food!

Join the Conversation:

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The soil is made up of air, water, decayed plant residue, organic matter, and minerals, such as sand, silt, and clay. Increasing soil organic matter typically improves soil health, as this organic matter affects several critical soil functions. Healthy soils are also porous, which allows air and water to move freely through them.

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How are bugs helping our soil?- Charlie Foote

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How are bugs helping our soil?- Charlie Foote

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Abstract

Soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect presence can directly alter ecosystem structure and function, but less is known about how these factors may interact. In this 6-year study in an old-field ecosystem, we manipulated insect abundance (reduced and control), the propagule pressure of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant (propagules added and control), and soil nutrient availability (nitrogen added, nitrogen reduced and control) in a fully crossed, completely randomized plot design. We found that nutrient amendment and, occasionally, insect abundance interacted with the propagule pressure of an invasive plant to alter above-and belowground structure and function at our site. Not surprisingly, nutrient amendment had a direct effect on aboveground biomass and soil nutrient mineralization. The introduction of invasive nitrogen-fixing plant propagules interacted with nutrient amendment and insect presence to alter soil bacterial abundance and the activity of the microbial community. While the larger-scale, longer-term bulk measurements such as biomass production and nutrient mineralization responded to the direct effects of our treatments, the shorter-term and dynamic microbial communities tended to respond to interactions among our treatments. Our results indicate that soil nutrients, invasive plants, and insect herbivores determine both above-and belowground responses, but whether such effects are independent versus interdependent varies with scale.

Keywords: aboveground biomass, bacteria, fungi, insect, invasive plant, nitrogen-fixer, nutrient amendment, old-field ecosystem, soil enzyme activity

Introduction

Decades of research demonstrate that soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect abundance can alter the structure of aboveground communities (Mack et al. 2000; Suding et al. 2005; Ehrenfeld 2010; Fisher et al. 2013). In general, nitrogen (N) limitation increases net primary productivity, decreases plant diversity, and thus alters community and ecosystem structure (Cleland and Harpole 2010). Similarly, the invasion of non-native plants in a community can reduce plant diversity and increase plant biomass by more than 50% relative to uninvaded communities (Vila et al. 2011). Insect presence, on average, leads to around a 13% reduction in NPP and causes changes in plant community structure sometimes promoting while other times hindering plant diversity (Hunter 2001; Coupe and Cahill 2003). While it is clear that main and interactive effects of invasive plant species, insect abundance, and soil nutrient availability can shape aboveground plant community structure and function, fewer studies have examined how these factors, solely or in concert, affect the belowground components of ecosystems (Bardgett and Wardle 2010).

Although the above-and belowground compartments of ecosystems are often linked (Wardle et al. 2004), belowground responses to these key factors may not simply mirror aboveground responses (Van Der Putten et al. 2001; Wardle et al. 2004). Independently, invasive plants can change the abundance and type of resources made available to the soil microbial pool and thus alter both the composition of microbial communities and associated functions such as microbial enzymatic activity and respiration (Hollinger 1986; Kourtev et al. 2002). Additionally, via their effects on plant quality and production, insects can alter soil communities and their function by selectively consuming plant material, altering plant chemistry, or by altering frass and waste inputs (Hunter 2001; Frost and Hunter 2004; Classen et al. 2006). Finally, changes in soil nutrient availability can alter soil microbial community composition and function, either by directly altering resources made available for mineralization by belowground communities, or by indirectly altering plant community composition, which may shift the quality and quantity of plant inputs to the soil (Waldrop et al. 2004). Numerous studies show that the addition of nutrients to the soil can shift the composition of the microbial community (Ramirez et al. 2010; Zechmeister-Boltenstern et al. 2011) potentially altering microbial function as well. Overall, invasive species, nutrients, and insect presence can alter belowground community structure and function affecting associated ecosystem processes.

Few studies, to our knowledge, have examined how these three key drivers of plant community structure and ecosystem function - invasive plant species, aboveground insects, and soil nutrient availability - interact to shape both above-and belowground community structure, function, and associated ecosystem processes. In this study, we examined the main and interactive effects of these drivers on above-and belowground community structure and ecosystem function after 6 years of experimentally manipulating the abundance of invasive plant propagules entering the system (at two levels), insect presence (at two levels), and soil nitrogen availability (at three levels) in an old-field ecosystem in the eastern United States. Previous work at this site found that soil nutrient availability interacted with propagule supply to alter the production of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant (Sanders et al. 2007). When herbivores and nutrients were reduced, the biomass of a nitrogen-fixing shrub increased (Sanders et al. 2007). Given plant biomass production, which is influenced by propagule addition, insect abundance, and nutrient amendments can directly and interactively alter soil microbial communities, it is difficult to predict how belowground communities will respond to our treatments. Broadly, we predict that nutrient amendment will have a large and direct effect on plant production and nutrient mineralization increasing carbon inputs into the soil system thus influencing belowground community structure and function. Consequently, the interactive effects of invasive propagules and insects will influence fine-scale belowground community structure and function in the context of large carbon inputs.

Methods

In 2004, we established a multifactor experiment in an intact old field located on the Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park, Tennessee (35°58′N 84°17′W). The site was abandoned from agricultural use in 1943 and has been managed since 2003 with an annual mowing regime. Soil at the site is Typic Hapludult, which has a silty clay-loam texture, is slightly acidic, and drains moderately well (Phillips et al. 2001). The three most common plant species, Verbesina occidentalis, Verbesina virginica, and Solidago altissima, make up ∼40% of the plant biomass, and there are approximately 60 other subdominant herbaceous, graminoid, and woody native and exotic species, including Lespedeza cuneata (Sanders et al. 2007; Blue et al. 2011; Souza et al. 2011a,b 2011b) at the site. In 2004, we erected 3-m-tall deer fence around the site and established 72 3 × 3 m plots, including a 0.5-m buffer around each plot, at a spacing of 2 m among plots, within existing vegetation at the site. Each spring, we manipulated the density of invasive plant propagules, insect abundance, and soil nutrient availability in a fully crossed, completely randomized design (Fig. ; n = 6 for each treatment combination).

From 2004 to 2006, we manipulated the propagules of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant, Lespedeza cuneata, by adding 1700 seeds·m −2 with a seed spreader to 36 randomly selected plots (Ernst Conservation Seeds, Meadville, PA). The density of L. cuneata, a Rank 1 invasive species, was ∼6 × higher in the seed addition plots than in nonaddition plots (Sanders et al. 2007).

From 2004 to 2009, we manipulated insect presence and absence by applying permethrin insecticide (Hi-Yield Kill-A-Bug, Voluntary Purchasing Group, Bonham, TX) to 36 randomly selected plots. Using a backpack sprayer, 0.23 L·m −2 of insecticide was added every 2-3 weeks to insect-removal plots during the growing season. Permethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid-based insecticide, is widely used in ecological studies (e.g., Root 1996; Schmitz et al. 2006). Using a combination of sweep netting, vacuum sampling, and visual scanning, we found that insect abundance was on average 4 × lower in the insect-reduced plots (6.6 individuals m −2) relative to the control plots (28.4 individuals m −2; Sanders et al. 2007). Based on observations at the field site since 2004 (Lane 2006; Sanders et al. 2007; Crutsinger et al. 2013) and detailed studies on plant-insect interactions conducted at the site (Crawford et al. 2007; Crutsinger et al. 2013), we are confident that herbivores were by far the most abundant trophic group. For example, Lane ( 2006) surveyed the insect community at the site for 2 years using a series of standard techniques and found that herbivores made up >56% of the total abundance of arthropods at the site. Additionally, of the insect taxa that were most frequently detected in the insect-reduced plots, only one was herbivorous - an aphid that proved difficult for us to remove or reduce using the insecticide treatment and vacuum sampler. Finally, several pilot experiments demonstrated that neither plant growth nor NO ₃-N and NH ₄-N in the soil solution differed between insect-reduced and control plots (Sanders et al. 2007). Thus, we are convinced that our use of permethrin insecticide reduced aboveground herbivore loads in the plots and that it had limited, if any, effects on soil nutrient dynamics in the plots.

From 2004 to 2009, we manipulated soil nutrient availability by doing nothing (control), adding nitrogen to increase nitrogen availability, and adding carbon to reduce nitrogen availability. Nitrogen was added as urea fertilizer (20 g·m −2·year −1), and carbon was applied as sucrose (167 g·m −2·year −1) (Sanders et al. 2007; Blue et al. 2011; Souza et al. 2011a,b 2011b). Sucrose, which is ∼46% carbon, is quickly mineralized by microbial communities; thus, its addition reduced soil nitrogen availability in our plots (Wang et al. 2004; Craine et al. 2007; Sanders et al. 2007). Relative to control plots, soil nitrogen availability (NO ₃-N + NH ₄-N) was 2 × higher in nitrogen-added plots and 5 × lower in carbon-added plots ( P < 0.0001; Sanders et al. 2007). Urea fertilization increased NO ₃-N and NH ₄-N availability ( P < 0.0001), whereas carbon fertilization decreased NO ₃-N availability ( P < 0.0001) but had no effect on NH ₄-N availability ( P = 0.50; Blue et al. 2011). Nutrient application rates were similar to fertilization rates used in other experiments (Mclendon and Redente 1992; Siemann 1998).

To assess how the plant community responded to the treatments, we harvested aboveground plant biomass at the end of the growing season in 2009. We randomly placed a 0.5 m × 1 m quadrat near the center of each of the 72 plots and clipped all of the aboveground plant biomass to ground level. We separated Lespedeza from the biomass of other species; biomass was oven-dried for approximately 48 h at 60°C and weighed.

To assess the structure and function of the soil community and the soil properties that might influence it, we collected two sets of soil samples (0-10 cm depth, 5 cm diameter) randomly from each plot in July, 2009. Soils collected for molecular analysis (∼15 g) were immediately frozen with liquid nitrogen and stored at −80°C until analysis. Soil samples for other analyses were returned to the laboratory, homogenized by plot, and sieved to 2 mm. We measured the gravimetric water content (GWC) on each plots sample by oven drying ∼20 g of soil at 105°C for ∼48 h. We measured pH on ∼10 g of dry soil with 0.01 mol L −1 CaCl ₂ (Robertson et al. 1999).

Bacterial and fungal relative abundance (gene copy number) were measured using qPCR (see Castro et al. 2010). DNA from each sample was extracted using the UltraClean soil DNA isolation kit (MoBio Laboratories, Carlsbad, CA). DNA concentration and purity were evaluated using a microplate reader (Biotek Instruments, Winooski, VT). PCR for bacteria, 16S rRNA, was performed using bacterial primers Eub 338 (ACT CCT ACG GGA GGC AGC AGZ) (Lane 1991) and Eub 518 (ATT ACC GCG GCT GCT GG) (Muyzer et al. 1993). PCR for fungi, 18S rRNA, was performed using fungal primers nuSSU1196F (GGA AAC TCA CCA GGT CCA GA) and nuSSU1536R (ATT GCA ATG CYC TAT CCC CA) (Borneman and Hartin 2000). In each PCR, abundance for bacteria and fungi was quantified by comparing unknown samples to serial dilutions of 16S and 18S rRNA from Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively. PCR mixtures for both 16S and 18S rRNA amplifications contained 15 μL of SYBR green master mix (Invitrogen by Life Technologies, Carlsbad, California), 5 μmol of the corresponding primer (Eurofins mwg operon Huntsville, Alabama), and 1 μL of DNA diluted 1:10 with sterile water. All reactions were brought to a final volume of 30 μL with sterile water. Amplification protocol for the 16S rRNA gene consisted of an initial denaturing cycle of 95°C for 3 min, followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 15 sec, 53°C for 15 sec, and 72°C for 1 min. Amplification for the18S rRNA gene consisted of an initial denaturing cycle of 95°C for 3 min, followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 15 sec, 53°C for 15 sec, and 70°C for 30 sec. We conducted a melting curve analysis on the products upon completion of the PCR cycle to ensure the purity of the amplification product. We measured fluorescence of the products after each cycle using a 96-well Chromo 4 thermocycler (Bio-Rad Laboratories). We present all data as gene copy number per gram of dry soil (Strickland and Rousk 2010).

We assayed microbial activity and function within 48 h of sample collection using methylumbelliferone (MUB)-linked substrates for three soil enzymes important in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus degradation: β-glucosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase (nagase), and phosphatase, respectively. Sample suspensions were prepared by adding ∼1 g of soil to 125 mL of 50 mmol L −1, pH 5.0, sodium acetate buffer. Soil suspensions were mixed on a stir plate for 2 min, while 96-well plates were prepared with blank wells, substrate controls, soil negative controls, reference standards, and quench controls. All plates were incubated at room temperature in the dark. Nagase and phosphatase reactions were incubated for 0.5 h, while the ß-glucosidase reaction was incubated for 2 h (Saiya-Cork et al. 2002; Sinsabaugh et al. 2005). Reactions were stopped by adding 25 μL of 0.5 mol L −1 sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Fluorescence was measured using a Modulus fluorometer (Turner Biosystems, Sunnyvale, CA) at an excitation of 365 nm and an emission of 450 nm. Potential enzymatic activity was reported as nmol·h −1·g −1.

Potential soil nitrogen mineralization, nitrification, and ammonification were measured using laboratory incubations (Robertson et al. 1999). Collected soils were brought up to field capacity, and an initial sample was immediately extracted with 2 mol L −1 KCL. Another sample was incubated at laboratory temperatures in dark 1-quart Mason jars. Each chamber contained a soil sample and a small vial of water to maintain humidity, and each chamber was flushed with air every 3-7 days. After 28 days, we removed the soils from the incubation and extracted them with 2 mol L −1 KCL. Extracts were analyzed for NO ₃-N and NH ₄-N on a Westco Smart Chem Auto Analyzer (Westco Scientific, Brookfield, CT). Initial inorganic nitrogen pools were subtracted from the incubated pools to estimate potential nitrogen mineralization.

For each response variable, we analyzed the main and interactive effects of invasive plants, insect presence, and soil nutrient availability using an analysis of variance (ANOVA). Data were log-transformed when they violated the assumptions of ANOVA, but data shown in the text and figures are untransformed means. We used Tukey's HSD means separation test ( α = 0.05) to identify whether treatment means differed from one another when necessary.

Results

Total aboveground plant biomass varied threefold among treatments (Fig. , Table ). Total aboveground biomass was 44% higher in nitrogen-added and 35% higher in control plots relative to nitrogen-reduced plots. Aboveground biomass was 15% higher in Lespedeza propagule-added plots than in plots where propagules were not added (Table ). When we excluded Lespedeza biomass from the total aboveground biomass estimate, the effect of adding invasive propagules on aboveground biomass of the rest of the plant community disappeared (Table , P = 0.39). Reducing insect abundance did not alter aboveground biomass, and none of the interaction terms were significant.

Table 1

df

SS

F-ratio

P-value

Total aboveground biomass (with Lespedeza)

Total aboveground biomass (without Lespedeza)

Interactions among the treatments altered bacterial abundance, but there were no direct or interactive effects of our treatments on fungal abundance or on the fungal/bacterial ratio (Fig. ; Table ). When insect abundances were reduced, the addition of invasive plant propagules lowered bacterial abundance by 28%; however, when insect abundance was not reduced, there was no effect. There was also an interaction between nutrient amendment and invasive plant propagules such that when nitrogen was reduced, the addition of invasive propagules reduced bacterial abundance by 52% relative to the nitrogen-reduced plots where invasive propagules were not added.

Table 2

df

SS

F-ratio

P-value

Bacterial abundance (16s rRNA)

Fungal abundance (18s rRNA)

Fungal/bacterial

β-Glucosidase activity

Phosphatase activity

Nagase activity

Potential net ammonification

Potential net nitrification

Potential net mineralization

Soil microbial β-glucosidase activity, which is responsible for releasing glucose molecules for microbial use, varied almost fivefold among treatments (Table , Fig. ). Nutrient amendment and invasive plant propagule addition interacted such that β-glucosidase activity was 3 × higher in nitrogen-reduced plots when seeds of Lespedeza were added than in the control or nitrogen-added plots (Table , Fig. ). Phosphatase activity, which removes phosphate groups from a variety of substrates to meet microbial needs for phosphorus, varied fivefold among treatments (Table ). Phosphatase activity was 2 × higher in the nitrogen-reduced plots than in the control or nitrogen-added plots, and phosphatase activity was 16% lower in invasive plant addition plots than in the plots to which invasive species were not added (Table , Fig. ). Nutrient amendment and the addition of invasive plant propagules interacted to alter soil nagase activity. Propagule addition decreased nagase activity ∼5%, but in nitrogen-reduced plots, propagule addition increased nagase activity.

As predicted, the addition of soil nutrients altered potential soil net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates. Net mineralization and nitrification rates were 4 × higher in soils from nitrogen-added plots than in soils from nitrogen-reduced plots (Table , Fig. ). There were no effects of either insect reduction or the addition of invasive plant species on net nitrification or net mineralization rates, nor were there any interactive effects. Net ammonification rates did not vary among treatments (Table , Fig. ). Soil gravimetric water content was up to 13% higher in the nitrogen-reduced plots than in the nitrogen-added and control plots ( F 11,71 = 1.8, P = 0.07). Soil pH did not vary among treatments ( F 11,71 = 0.74, P = 0.70).

Discussion

Ecosystem leftacteristics such as nutrient status and insect presence may interact with the presence or abundance of invasive plants to alter ecosystem structure and function. Our study found that nutrient status and, occasionally, insect abundance interacted with the propagule pressure of an invasive plant to alter the above-and belowground structure and function of an old-field ecosystem. Not surprisingly and as predicted, nutrient amendment had a direct effect on aboveground biomass and soil nutrient mineralization; however, the introduction of Lespedeza propagules interacted with nutrient amendment and to a lesser extent insect abundance to alter soil bacterial abundance and the function of the microbial community. Thus, the larger-scale more integrative measures of biomass production and nutrient mineralization appear to be coupled and respond to direct effects of our treatments, while the microbial community, with more rapid turnover times, responds to interactions among our treatments.

As is often the case in other experiments, nutrient availability controlled both aboveground biomass and soil nutrient mineralization in our experiment but in different directions (Vitousek et al. 1997; Pérez et al. 1998; Sirulnik et al. 2007; Cleland and Harpole 2010). Interestingly, adding nitrogen to plots did not control soil nitrogen production or mineralization; both of these processes were different only relative to the nutrient-reduced plots. We suspect that potential nitrification increased as nitrogen was added to plots because the microbial communities in soils exceeded their demand for nitrogen (Zeglin et al. 2007). Eventually, nitrogen saturation (Ågren and Bosatta 1988) was reached resulting in a stagnation of productivity, carbon storage, and increased leaching of nitrogen (Vitousek et al. 1997). Total biomass in our control plots did not differ significantly from that in the nitrogen-added plots indicating that nitrogen saturation may have already occurred in this ecosystem (i.e., these communities were not N-limited). Contrary to other studies that find nitrogen enrichment results in an early increase in ammonification followed by a plateau (Aber et al. 1995) as soil microbial communities become carbon limited (Micks et al. 2004), we found no effects of nitrogen amendments on potential ammonification (Lovett and Rueth 1999; Baron et al. 2000).

Nitrogen reduction decreased aboveground biomass (e.g., carbon input) relative to unamended and nitrogen-added plots, which did not differ from each other. This pattern, where nitrogen addition did not alter aboveground biomass production, was consistent even when we removed Lespedeza biomass from our analysis, indicating that nitrogen reduction lowers production relative to nitrogen addition in control plots irrespective of invasion by Lespedeza. Nutrient reduction at our site also reduced belowground root biomass, indicating that when nutrients were low, plant carbon allocation to the soil and the microbial community which lived there was also low (Blue et al. 2011).

Bacterial abundance was higher when Lespedeza propagules were added to control plots, but lower when propagules were added to plots where nitrogen was reduced. When nitrogen was added, there was no effect of propagule addition on bacterial abundance. These results suggest that in control plots, which were more productive with greater plant inputs than nitrogen-reduced plots, the introduction of nitrogen-fixing Lespedeza propagules reduced nutrient constraints on the bacterial community, thereby increasing bacterial abundance. Since an increase in nitrogen-fixer abundance can alleviate nitrogen constraints on ecosystems, bacterial abundance might also increase (Selmants et al. 2005). However, the stimulating effect of Lespedeza goes away in the less productive nitrogen-reduced plots where plant inputs were lower but carbon addition as sucrose was higher. While we were unable to tease apart exactly how nutrient amendment and the presence of Lespedeza in plots interact to shape soil communities, we have a working hypothesis: changes in plant composition lead to shifts in the structure of soil communities.

Shifts in plant species composition can change carbon allocation to the rhizosphere community leading to shifts in microbial community abundance and composition (Wardle et al. 2003; Innes et al. 2004; Hossain et al. 2010; Ladygina and Hedlund 2010), especially when an ecosystem is invaded by a nitrogen-fixing species (Vitousek and Walker 1989). Because Lespedeza is a nitrogen-fixer, it has a unique community of organisms that occur in its rhizosphere (Kalburtji et al. 2001; Min et al. 2008), thus, as belowground root and exudate abundance from Lespedeza increases relative to other non-nitrogen-fixing species in the community, bacterial abundance might shift (Batten et al. 2008; Yannarell et al. 2011). Previous work in a similar ecosystem found that the presence of Lespedeza altered soil nematode composition relative to other plant species (Kardol et al. 2010), suggesting that the presence of Lespedeza not only changed the bacterial community, but can change the entire soil food web mediating not only bottom-up (e.g., litter phenolics and root exudates) but also top-down (e.g., bacterivorous nematodes) factors influencing soil community structure.

Insects, specifically herbivores, can alter plant inputs into soil communities via their direct impact on plant function (e.g., secondary chemistry and reduced biomass) or by causing a shift in plant community composition (Hillebrand et al. 2007; Gruner et al. 2008). We found that when insects were reduced, bacterial abundance declined 28%, but only when Lespedeza propagules were added. We predicted that decreasing insect abundance would increase carbon allocation belowground, stimulating the microbial community. However, we did not find this pattern. In 2004, Lespedeza biomass was sevenfold higher in plots where insects were removed, propagules were added, and nutrients were reduced (Sanders et al. 2007). Lespedeza litter has high concentrations of phenolic compounds that can retard the growth of microbial communities, and thus, as Lespedeza increases in abundance in insect-reduced plots relative to other plant species bacterial abundance may decrease (Kalburtji et al. 1999, 2001; Min et al. 2008; Yannarell et al. 2011). While we cannot tease apart the presence of Lespedeza and the removal of insects on soil bacterial abundance, they interact in counter-intuitive ways to influence belowground bacterial communities.

While bacterial responses differed among treatments in our experiment, fungal responses did not. In spite of a number of studies showing strong responses of fungi to plant invasion (Van Der Putten et al. 2007; Yannarell et al. 2011), previous work on Lespedeza and invasion by other nitrogen-fixers showed that, relative to bacterial communities, fungal communities were less responsive to Lespedeza presence (Yannarell et al. 2011; St John et al. 2012). In addition, fungal-dominated food webs can take many years to fully develop and are more common in later-successional ecosystems (Wardle 2002). Given the old field we worked in was managed by mowing and was not limited by soil moisture, we suspect that a bacterial-driven energy channel dominated over a fungal energy channel (Witt and Setälä 2010) - a pattern found in other studies examining the presence of nitrogen-fixers in early successional ecosystems (St John et al. 2012).

Changes in bacterial and fungal abundance can indicate that biomass of the community was changing in response to experimental manipulations, but activity and function of that community might not change in tandem (Sinsabaugh et al. 2008). We examined three extracellular enzyme activities that were responsible for the breakdown of organic matter in soils ( β-glucosidase) or play a key role in soil nitrogen and phosphorus cycling (nagase and phosphatase) (Sinsabaugh et al. 2005). β-Glucosidase and nagase activity were higher when propagules of Lespedeza were added to plots where nutrients were reduced, but activities of both enzymes were lower in plots where propagules of Lespedeza were added to plots where nutrients were not manipulated. While there was no statistical interaction between propagule pressure and nutrient amendment on phosphatase activity, the patterns were similar to the other enzymes. The addition of an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant appears to ameliorate the impact of nutrient reduction on soil microbial function. Nitrogen fixation by an invasive plant may have altered the way microbial communities access nutrients in low-nutrient environments, even though this effect did not scale up to alter potential nitrogen mineralization. Similar to our results, Kardol et al. ( 2010) found that phosphatase activity was lower in soils where Lespedeza was present. We predicted that as nitrogen became less limiting, phosphorus would become more limiting to microbial growth (Demoling et al. 2007). However, when nitrogen was limiting, the addition of Lespedeza increased enzymatic activity across all three enzymes tested. This leads us to infer that nitrogen limitation in the nitrogen-reduced plots was alleviated by the addition of Lespedeza resulting in increased microbial enzyme activity. Similar to our plant and bacterial abundance data, nitrogen addition had no significant effect on any of the enzymes we measured.

Our results indicate that propagule pressure from an invasive nitrogen-fixing plant can interact with soil nutrient status and insect abundance to shape plant and soil communities and potentially the feedbacks between the two. After 6 years of experimental treatments, our larger-scale measurements - plant biomass and soil nitrogen cycling - responded directly to the main effects of our manipulations, while the more fine-scale community measurements tended to be shaped by interactive effects of our treatments, in particular invasive species and nutrient manipulations. Plant-microbe interactions run the gamut from positive interactions that enhance plant growth to negative interactions that slow plant growth (Jackson and Taylor 1996; Oldroyd and Robatzek 2011). Factors such as changes in soil nutrient availability, invasion by non-native plants, and insect abundance can mediate the interactions between plant and soil communities - thus shifting the response of plants and their associated soil communities through time (Ladygina and Hedlund 2010; Fisher et al. 2013). Understanding how above-and belowground components of ecosystems are linked and how those linkages are mediated by invasive plant species, insect abundance, and soil nutrient availability will be increasingly important in a changing world.

Acknowledgments

We thank J. Weltzin for helping implement the experiment. We thank J. Areson, J. Blue, H. Smith, L. Marsh, T. Simberloff, H. Tran, and L. Breza for field and laboratory assistance. We thank J. Evans, H. Quarles, and the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency for facilitating field logistics. C. Patterson gave helpful comments on an earlier version of the article. P. Wright was supported by an undergraduate fellowship from the Office of Research at UT.

Conflict of Interest

None declared.

Funding Information

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Office of Research at The University of Tennessee funded this work.

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The effects of insects, nutrients, and plant invasion on community structure and function above-and belowground

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Soil nutrient availability, invasive plants, and insect presence can directly alter ecosystem structure and function, but less is known about how these factors may interact. In this 6-year study in an old-field ecosystem, we manipulated insect abundance ...

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Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District

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Why Healthy Soil Is a Priority

Soil is more than just a medium for growing your plants - it has a life of its own! Each scoop of soil contains millions of microbes that keep the tiny ecosystem functioning, which is essential for growing food and creating living landscapes. When we think about soil as a living system, we can better understand how its health can change based on how we treat it.

Soil health plays a major role in the health of all living organisms. We need to care for the soil in our landscapes, just as we care for plants, animals, and other humans, for it to function properly. It is important to consider ways to protect and boost your soil when planning for your farm, landscape, garden, or flower bed.

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On this page: Why Healthy Soil is a Priority Soil is Alive! What is soil made of? How do we assess soil health? What are the best ways to keep soil

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Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District

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Why Healthy Soil Is a Priority

Soil is more than just a medium for growing your plants - it has a life of its own! Each scoop of soil contains millions of microbes that keep the tiny ecosystem functioning, which is essential for growing food and creating living landscapes. When we think about soil as a living system, we can better understand how its health can change based on how we treat it.

Soil health plays a major role in the health of all living organisms. We need to care for the soil in our landscapes, just as we care for plants, animals, and other humans, for it to function properly. It is important to consider ways to protect and boost your soil when planning for your farm, landscape, garden, or flower bed.

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On this page: Why Healthy Soil is a Priority Soil is Alive! What is soil made of? How do we assess soil health? What are the best ways to keep soil

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How to stop treating our soil like dirt - Charlie Foote

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How to stop treating our soil like dirt - Charlie Foote

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Soil quality and maintenance is an often overlooked part of the health of communities, ecosystems, and even civilizations. Crop rotation and urbanization are just some of the problems affecting the sustainability of the land itself.

Subjects

Anthropology, Earth Science, Climatology, Social Studies, World History

Image

Dust Bowl Wind Storm

American soil scientist W.C. Lowdermilk studied other countries and ancient civilizations to learn how best to prevent more soil erosion disasters like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

Photograph by the World History Archive

That question headlining a 1984 National Geographic article on soils remains as relevant today as it was more than 30 years ago.

We lavish attention on our food, we want to know where it came from, who grew it, and whether it is "conventional" or "organic." But we give hardly a passing thought to the ground our food grew in.

Soil could use some more attention and respect. After all, soil is the thin skin of our Earth where we plant and grow the vital grain crops like wheat, rice, and corn that feed more than seven billion of us.

And while the future rests on the soil beneath our feet, as National Geographic also put it in a 2008 article on soils, history is littered with the remains of civilizations that ignored, exploited, and degraded the soil beneath their feet.

One-third of the world's soil already has been damaged by water and wind erosion, deforestation, compaction, nutrient depletion, and pollution. By our own actions, we are losing soil faster than nature can create it, and as population keeps growing we also pave over some of the most productive farmland for urban areas. The United Nations says that unless we protect the remaining soil and improve land use and conservation practices, the global amount of arable and productive land per person in 2050 will be only a quarter of what it was in 1960.

In the late 1930s, American soil scientist W.C. Lowdermilk traveled across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East to investigate why past civilizations failed, or persevered, by looking at the effect of agricultural practices over the past 7,000 years. He visited lands that had been in cultivation for centuries to understand the link between soil erosion and the fate of civilizations.

Lowdermilk sought insights that could help avoid a repeat of the Dust Bowl, which was a soil erosion disaster that hit the southern Great Plains of the United States in the 1930s. It was caused by the "Great Plow-Up" of perennial grasslands to grow annual wheat that coincided with a decade-long drought. Huge dust storms blew Plains soil as far east as Washington, D.C., and thousands of people in Oklahoma, Kansas, and nearby states were driven from their land.

On Lowdermilk's 18-month journey of toppled empires and vanished civilizations, he found that soil losses from wind and water erosion, soil salination from irrigation, deforestation, overgrazing, and conflicts between crop farmers and herdsmen all had contributed to societal failures. He also found that careful stewardship of soil with land terracing, crop rotation, tree planting and other methods that keep soil covered has allowed societies to flourish for centuries.

A 2015 study in Science called "Soil and Human Security in the 21st Century" reports that a recent rise in research on soils and soil health has been encouraging, but that soil conservation-preserving soil carbon, cutting erosion, and improving soil nutrients-must increase significantly, and soon, to protect the remaining soils we rely on.

"These are challenging goals that will be difficult to achieve," the study says, "much like the approaches required to contend with climate change."

Unless we ramp up our efforts to conserve remaining soils, our own future is at risk, just like the vanished civilizations Lowdermilk studied more than 75 years ago. In decades ahead the pressure on the world's soils to to grow even more food will only rise as population likely rises past nine billion by 2050.

While we observe World Food Day in October, remember that healthy soils are vital to the success of all farmers.

Education campaigns about soils are increasing. The U.N. declared 2015 the International Year of Soils, and World Soils Day was December 4 that year.

It's about time. Here's to soil.

Dennis Dimick grew up on a farm in Oregon and studied agriculture in college. He serves as National Geographic's Executive Editor for the Environment. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and flickr.

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Last Updated

March 23, 2023

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Soil quality and maintenance is an often overlooked part of the health of communities, ecosystems, and even civilizations. Crop rotation and urbanization are just some of the problems affecting the sustainability of the land itself.

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Soil Health and Nutrient Density: Beyond Organic vs. Conventional Farming

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Controversy has long surrounded the question of nutritional differences between crops grown organically or using now-conventional methods, with studies dating back to the 1940s showing that farming methods can affect the nutrient density of crops. More recent studies have shown how reliance on tilla…

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Healthy soil is that which allows plants to grow to their maximum productivity without disease or pests and without a need for off-farm supplements.

Healthy soil is teeming with bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, nematodes, and other tiny creatures. Those organisms play an important role in plant health.

Soil bacteria produce natural antibiotics that help plants resist disease. Fungi assist plants in absorbing water and nutrients. Together, these bacteria and fungi are known as "organic matter." The more organic matter in a sample of soil, the healthier that soil is.

To determine if soil is healthy, farmers and scientists measure several factors. How many microorganisms are present? How many nutrients-nitrogen, for example-are in the soil? How well does the soil retain water during drought? How much carbon can the soil sequester from the atmosphere?

At Rodale Institute, our scientists collect soil samples in the field. Back in the lab, they dry and weigh the samples before analysis. Our research has shown that while conventional systems erode and deplete soils, organic systems improve and build the soil over time.

Why does it matter?

Healthy soil contains aggregates that help it bind together, preventing erosion and run-off. It can hold more water, so plants fare better in drought. It contains more bacteria and fungi that help plants fight diseases and pests. And healthy soil also contains more minerals and nutrients that feed plants.

Healthy soil is the foundation of our global food system, but currently, it's at risk. The United Nations reports that using current practices, we have fewer than 60 years of farmable topsoil remaining.

Every organic farming practice contributes to healthy, resilient soil that can support abundant life both below and above ground, making organic farming a powerful tool for soil conservation.

Make a Difference

Every day, you can take action to help save the world's soils.

Here's How

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A thriving organic farming system starts with healthy, organic soil. Rodale Institute is a leader in soil studies and soil conservation. Read our extensive research on soil health and fertility.

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Addi Baker- How Healthy Soils Make for a Healthy Life

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Addi Baker- How Healthy Soils Make for a Healthy Life

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The next time you bite into an apple, spare a thought for the soils that helped to produce it. Soils play a vital role, not just in an apple's growth, but in our own health too.

The formation of soil, pedogenesis, is a very slow process. Creating one millimetre of soil coverage can take anything from a few years to an entire millennium.

But with soils around the world under threat, we're in danger of losing their health benefits faster than they are replaced.

Healthy soils for healthy plants

A healthy soil is a living ecosystem in which dead organic matter forms the base of a food web consisting of microscopic and larger organisms.

Together, these organisms sustain other biological activities, including plant, animal and human health. Soils supply nutrients and water, which are vital for plants, and are home to organisms that interact with plants, for better or worse.

In the natural environment, plants form relationships with soil microbes to obtain water, nutrients and protection against some pathogens. In return, the plants provide food.

The use of mineral fertilisers can make some of these relationships redundant, and their breakdown can lead to the loss of other benefits such as micronutrients and disease protection.

Certain farming practices, such as tillage (or mechanical digging), are harmful to fungi in soils. These fungi play important roles in helping plants obtain crucial nutrients such as zinc.

Zinc is an essential micronutrient for all living organisms. Zinc deficiency affects an estimated one-third of the world's population, particularly in regions with zinc-deficient soils. If food staples such as cereal grains are grown on zinc-deficient soils and further lack their fungi helpers, they become deficient in zinc.

If the way food is grown affects the composition and health of plants, could farming practices that focus on soil health make food more nutritious? A recent review on fruits says yes.

The researchers found that fruits produced under organic farming generally contained more vitamins, more flavour compounds such as phenolics, and more antioxidants when compared with conventional farming. Many factors are at play here, but pest and soil management strategies that benefit soil organisms and their relationship with plants are part of the equation.

The composition and function of animals and humans reflects, to some extent, what they eat. For example, the fish you eat is only rich in omega-3 fatty acids if the fish has eaten algae and microbes that manufacture these oils. The fish itself does not produce these compounds.

Increasing numbers of studies are demonstrating the link between nutrition and human health issues. We know, for example, that antioxidants, carbohydrates, saturated fat content and the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids contribute to immune system regulation.

We do not produce some of these nutrients; we must obtain them through our food. Therefore, how food is grown is a matter of public health.

Beyond nutrition

Soil is the greatest reservoir of biodiversity. A handful of soil can contain millions of individuals from thousands of species of bacteria and fungi, not to mention the isopods, rotifers, nematodes, worms and many other identified and yet-to-be-identified organisms that call soil home.

Soil microbes produce an arsenal of compounds in their chemical warfare for dominance and survival. Many widely used antibiotics and other drugs were isolated from soil. It may hold the answers to our battle with antibiotic resistance and other diseases including cancer.

It has also been suggested that exposure to diverse microbes in the natural environment can help prevent allergies and other immune-related disorders.

The road to healthy soils

Unfortunately, we are doing a poor job of looking after our soils. About two-thirds of agricultural land in Australia is suffering from acidification, contamination, depletion of nutrients and organic matter, and/or salinisation. And in case anyone forgets, soil is every bit as non-renewable as oil because soil formation is such a slow process.

On the other hand, soil erosion can happen very quickly. For a taste of what happens when soils are destroyed, nothing beats sitting through a dust storm and watching day turn into night. Dust storms inspired George Miller's film Mad Max: Fury Road.

In the 2009 Red Dawn in Sydney, some 2.5 million tonnes of soil were lost within hours to the ocean in a 3,000km-long, 2.5km-high dust plume.

Australia's major cities began on fertile land. Melbourne's food bowl can supply 41% of the city's fresh food needs. Such secure access to fresh and whole food needs our protection.

Healthy soils are part of the solution to some of our dilemmas - poverty, malnutrition and climate change - as they underpin processes that gives us food, energy and water. If we want to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, soil health is a linchpin we cannot ignore.

From this perspective, agricultural practices to maintain healthy soil are clearly an important target for policymakers. Looking after our soils ultimately means looking after ourselves.
Ee Ling Ng works at the Australian-China Joint Research Centre: Healthy Soils for Sustainable Food Production and Environmental Quality. She receives funding from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Deli Chen receives funding from Australia Research Council, Meat Livestock Australia, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

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How healthy soils make for a healthy life

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Living Soil, healthy garden- connor diercks

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Living Soil, healthy garden- connor diercks

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Six tips for healthy soil in your garden

Test your soil.

Add organic matter.

Incorporate compost to compacted soil to increase air, water and nutrients for plants.

Protect topsoil with mulch or cover crops.

Don't use chemicals unless there's no alternative.

Rotate crops.

Soil is so much more than dirt. Soil is a living ecosystem-a large community of living organisms linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

Every teaspoon of soil is home to billions of microorganisms-bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, and earthworms that play important roles.

Bacteria and fungi break down dead plant and animal tissue which become nutrients for plants.

Nematodes eat plant material and other soil organisms, releasing plant nutrients in their waste.

Specialized mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationships with plants. The fungi bring hard-to-reach nutrients and water directly to plant roots, and the plants provide the fungi with carbohydrates.

Worms and insects shred and chew organic material into smaller bits bacteria and fungi can easily access.

Garden earthworms burrow and create pathways in soil that fill with air and water for plant roots.
However, they are not native to Minnesota. To prevent spreading them into forested areas, don't dump fishing bait or move soil with earthworms.

A healthy soil ecosystem provides plants with easy access to air, water, and nutrients. Here are six tips for achieving optimum soil health in your garden:

Test your soil

Understanding your soil is the first step to creating an optimum soil ecosystem. Submit a sample of your garden soil to the University of Minnesota Soil Testing Lab, located on the St. Paul campus.

Your soil test results will include information about soil texture, pH, nutrients, and organic matter, and provide fertilizer recommendations for the plants you plan to grow.

Add organic matter

Organic matter improves soil physical properties such as air and water availability, allowing for healthy root growth.

Organic matter is composed of living plant roots and organisms, decomposing plant and animal residue in varying stages of decay, and enzymes secreted by soil organisms that act like glue to bind soil particles.

As soil organisms like fungi and bacteria break down plant and animal parts, nutrients become available to plants. The plants, in turn, feed the soil organisms with their remains.

Highly decomposed plant material is called humus, a stable and important source of plant nutrients great for growing plants.

Like us, plants need a variety of nutrients for optimum health.

There are 17 essential nutrients all plants need to grow.

Macronutrients are needed in larger quantities:

Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen come from air and water.

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium come from fertilizer and organic matter; phosphorus and potassium also come from weathering of soil particles.

Calcium, sulfur and magnesium are usually sufficient in Minnesota soils unless the soil is very sandy.

Micronutrients are needed in small quantities: iron, manganese, molybdenum, chlorine, boron, copper, and zinc; these are also usually sufficient in Minnesota soils.

A soil test can tell you what nutrients your soil is lacking.

Organic matter such as compost can be a source of macronutrients like nitrogen, as well as micronutrients such as manganese and zinc.

Provide air and water

Plant roots and microbes need access to varying amounts of air and water for optimum growth. Fortunately, soil is full of microenvironments-tiny habitats that differ in the amount of available air, water and nutrients.

Soil compaction and disturbance such as excessive tillage can eliminate these important microenvironments. This makes it hard for plant roots to penetrate the soil, absorb water and nutrients, and interact with beneficial microbes.

Disturbing soil also disturbs weed seeds, exposing them to light and increasing germination-in other words, more weeds!

To minimize compaction and provide an optimal growing environment:

Use designated walking paths through planting beds to avoid compacting soil around plant roots. Some design options include:

Plant in raised beds.

Beds no wider than 4 feet that allow you to reach across.

Free-standing beds with access on all sides.

To reduce or eliminate tilling consider using hand tools to prepare garden beds.

Incorporate compost into compacted soil to increase air, water and nutrients for plants.

Flowers and vegetables: incorporate 1 to 2 inches of compost 6 to 8 inches deep.

Before planting trees and shrubs, incorporate 4 inches of compost 12 inches deep.

Keep it covered

The top few inches of soil contain an abundance of microorganisms, organic matter and soil nutrients.

Mulch or cover crops can be used to protect valuable topsoil from erosion and to add rich organic matter as they decompose.

Raindrops landing on bare soil can splash soil particles several feet into the air.

Mulching bare soil around plants prevents the splashing of soil particles and soil-borne pathogens onto leaves and stems, reducing the occurrence of disease.

Mulch and cover crops conserve soil moisture, minimize weeds, and reduce plant stress by moderating soil temperatures.

Minimize chemical use

Pesticides kill pests, but they also can kill beneficial soil microbes and insects.

Before reaching for a chemical:

Always consider alternatives to pesticides first, and low-impact pesticides like horticultural oils, insecticidal soap, spinosad, and Bt (Bacillus thurgiensis)

Choose disease-resistant plant varieties and plants that will grow well on your site.

Hand-pick larger bugs, such as Japanese beetles, from plants, and drop them in soapy water to kill them.

Use a blast of water from your garden hose to knock insects off plants.

Use physical barriers like row covers, bags on apples, or fences to keep out larger critters.

Plant damage from insects and diseases is often cosmetic and not necessarily life-threatening. Visit the What's wrong with my plant tool to find out what diseases or insects may be affecting your plants and how to best treat them.

Rotate crops

While most microbes are beneficial to plants, disease-causing microbes may overwinter in soil and plant litter. These pathogens prefer to infest and feed on certain plants. Planting the same crop in the same soil year after year can increase diseases.

Rotating your crops:

Reduces disease-causing pathogens by eliminating their food source.

Prevents nutrient depletion.

Plants with long roots, like carrots, absorb nutrients deeper in the soil.

Shallow-rooted onions absorb nutrients in the top few inches of soil.

Legumes, such as beans and peas, add nutrients back into soil.

Add nitrogen to the soil by forming a mutual relationship with rhizobia, root-inhabiting bacteria that take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a plant-available form.

When the legumes die, the nitrogen then becomes available to other plants in the rotation.

Rotation guidelines

Crop rotation is usually based on plant families. Plants in the same family are often susceptible to similar pests and diseases and tend to have comparable nutrient and cultural requirements.

For example, rotate crops from the cabbage family with crops from the sunflower family, or rotate crops from the squash family with crops from the grass family.

Other families, such as carrot or goosefoot, can be used to fill in the rotation wherever necessary.

If you don't have the planting space to rotate crops, combine different plant families so that there is a diversity of crops in your vegetable garden.

Plant families

Carrot family (Apiaceae): carrot, parsnip, parsley, celery, celeriac, dill, chervil, cilantro, fennel

Sunflower family (Asteraceae): sunflower, lettuce, endive, escarole, Jerusalem artichoke, artichoke, chamomile, tarragon, echinacea

Cabbage family (Brassicaceae): cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnip, radish, kale, collards, rutabaga, watercress, horseradish

Goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae): beet, chard, spinach

Gourd family (Cucurbitaceae): cucumber, melon, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkin, gourd

Legume family (Fabaceae): bean, pea, cowpea, lentil

Mint family (Lamiaceae): basil, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint

Onion family (Liliaceae): onion, scallion, garlic, leek, shallot, chive, asparagus

Grass family (Poaceae): corn, sorghum, wheat, oats, barley

Nightshade family (Solanaceae): potato, tomato, tomatillo, pepper (hot and sweet), eggplant

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The choices you make in your garden affect soil health. Learn the steps to take to have healthy soil and a healthy garden.

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Healthy soil is that which allows plants to grow to their maximum productivity without disease or pests and without a need for off-farm supplements.

Healthy soil is teeming with bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, nematodes, and other tiny creatures. Those organisms play an important role in plant health.

Soil bacteria produce natural antibiotics that help plants resist disease. Fungi assist plants in absorbing water and nutrients. Together, these bacteria and fungi are known as "organic matter." The more organic matter in a sample of soil, the healthier that soil is.

To determine if soil is healthy, farmers and scientists measure several factors. How many microorganisms are present? How many nutrients-nitrogen, for example-are in the soil? How well does the soil retain water during drought? How much carbon can the soil sequester from the atmosphere?

At Rodale Institute, our scientists collect soil samples in the field. Back in the lab, they dry and weigh the samples before analysis. Our research has shown that while conventional systems erode and deplete soils, organic systems improve and build the soil over time.

Why does it matter?

Healthy soil contains aggregates that help it bind together, preventing erosion and run-off. It can hold more water, so plants fare better in drought. It contains more bacteria and fungi that help plants fight diseases and pests. And healthy soil also contains more minerals and nutrients that feed plants.

Healthy soil is the foundation of our global food system, but currently, it's at risk. The United Nations reports that using current practices, we have fewer than 60 years of farmable topsoil remaining.

Every organic farming practice contributes to healthy, resilient soil that can support abundant life both below and above ground, making organic farming a powerful tool for soil conservation.

Make a Difference

Every day, you can take action to help save the world's soils.

Here's How

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A thriving organic farming system starts with healthy, organic soil. Rodale Institute is a leader in soil studies and soil conservation. Read our extensive research on soil health and fertility.

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Soil composition is an important aspect of nutrient management. While soil minerals and organic matter hold and store nutrients, soil water is what readily provides nutrients for plant uptake. Soil air, too, plays an integral role since many of the microorganisms that live in the soil need air to undergo the biological processes that release additional nutrients into the soil.

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Root Growth in Healthy Soil

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) defines healthy soils as those with the continued capacity to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Construction, farming, and other human activities compact soil and deplete nutrients. Compost and mulch improve soil's physical, biological, and chemical properties and help soils regain their natural functions.

Soil Organic Matter

Compost in California contains approximately 50 percent organic matter, and of that, approximately 25 percent is carbon. Although plants generally consume carbon from the air, compost carbon nourishes soil microorganisms. Organic matter is composed of the remains of organisms, such as plants and animals and their waste products. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N) is a common index used for assessing feedstock and the maturity of any given compost. C:N ratios in finished compost range from 12:1 to 20:1 but are ideally between 14:1 and 18:1.

Compost increases organic matter in soils, which tend to be deficient in organic matter. Soil structure-the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and the pore space between them-is critical to how the soil functions. Organic matter causes soil to clump and form soil aggregates, which improves soil structure. With better soil structure, permeability (infiltration of water through the soil) improves, in turn improving the soil's ability to take up and hold water. When the solid parts-sand, silt and clay particles-cling together as coarse, granular aggregates, the soil has a good balance of solid parts and pore space. Soil organic matter also helps develop stable soil aggregates. Fungi and bacteria produce organic glues as they decompose plant residues. Fungi fed with organic matter secrete a gooey protein called glomalin, an effective short-term cementing agent for large aggregates. Water-resistant substances produced by microorganisms, roots, and other organic matter provide long-term aggregate stability from a few months to a few years.

Soil, especially healthy soil, is full of life. Millions of species and billions of organisms make up a complex and diverse mix of microscopic and macroscopic life that represents the greatest concentration of biomass anywhere on the planet. Bacteria, algae, microscopic insects, earthworms, beetles, ants, mites, and fungi are among them.

According to the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service:

Consider bacteria, the soil microbes with the highest numbers, for example: you can fit 40 million of them on the end of one pin. In fact, there are more soil microorganisms (microbes for short) in a teaspoonful of soil than there are people on the earth. These microbes, which make up only one-half of one percent of the total soil mass, are the yeasts, algae, protozoa, bacteria, nematodes, and fungi that process soil into rich, dark, stable humus. Like other living creatures, the organisms in the soil also need food and shelter. Some feed on dead organic matter, and some eat other microbes. As a group, they cycle nutrients, build the soil and give it structure.

What do Soil Organisms Do?

Bacteria: Feed on organic matter, store and cycle nitrogen, and decompose pesticides.

Fungi: Up to 3,000 species of fungi are in the soil. Some feed on dead organic matter like crop residues that are more difficult to break down. Others are parasites that attack other microbes. Some fan out from the root to get more nutrients and hold more water for the plant, delivering nutrients to the plant in exchange for carbon.

Protozoa: Eat bacteria, fungi, and algae. When they eat bacteria, their main food source, they unlock and slowly release nitrogen into the soil environment. They convert organic nitrogen to inorganic nitrogen that is available to plants.

Mites: Decompose and shred organic matter as an important part of the nitrogen cycle.

Nematodes: These microscopic worms are an important part of the nitrogen cycle. Most are non-pathogenic and do not cause disease. They eat other organisms in the soil.

Earthworms: Expel partially decomposed organic matter, produce nutrient-rich casts, and create lubricated tunnels that aid soil structure and water movement in the soil.

Soil Physical Properties

Compost use improves soil physical properties, including increasing water infiltration rate, increasing soil aggregation and stability, and decreasing soil bulk density. Lowering soil bulk density increases water holding capacity (WHC).

For more information contact: Organic Materials, organics@calrecycle.ca.gov

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Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District

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Why Healthy Soil Is a Priority

Soil is more than just a medium for growing your plants - it has a life of its own! Each scoop of soil contains millions of microbes that keep the tiny ecosystem functioning, which is essential for growing food and creating living landscapes. When we think about soil as a living system, we can better understand how its health can change based on how we treat it.

Soil health plays a major role in the health of all living organisms. We need to care for the soil in our landscapes, just as we care for plants, animals, and other humans, for it to function properly. It is important to consider ways to protect and boost your soil when planning for your farm, landscape, garden, or flower bed.

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On this page: Why Healthy Soil is a Priority Soil is Alive! What is soil made of? How do we assess soil health? What are the best ways to keep soil

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Soil quality - Understanding Global Change

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Discover why the climate and environment changes, your place in the Earth system, and paths to a resilient future.

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Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Creating and maintaining a healthy soil is more than just reducing erosion. The benefits of a healthy soil go far beyond crop production.

Five Soil Health Principles of NRCS

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has identified four principles for improving soil health and sustainability:

1. Use plant diversity to increase diversity in the soil.

2. Manage soils more by disturbing them less.

3. Keep plants growing throughout the year to feed the soil.

4. Keep the soil covered as much as possible.

5. Integrate livestock to recycle nutrients and increase plant diversity.

A healthy soil has good water infiltration and retention. The biological activity within the soil increases soil fertility and helps build good soil structure. These things reduce the need for expensive inputs and increase plant resilience to drought, pests and intense rains.

Agroforestry's Role in Soil Health

Because agroforestry systems include trees and shrubs, as well as other perennial vegetation, they support each of the four soil health principles. Incorporating trees and shrubs into annual cropping systems increases root diversity that feeds the living organisms within the soil. Perennial plants often require less soil disturbance and have roots growing through a greater part of the year. Perennial living cover also helps protect the soil from wind and water erosion which helps in building and maintaining good soil structure.

The influence of trees in agroforestry systems impact soil health over a greater area than just where their roots grow. (USDA National Agroforestry Center illustration)

Agroforestry systems can complement other practices that improve soil health like cover crops, no or low till, nutrient management, or crop rotation. These practices can work together to provide the best protection for your soil. They also can support one another so that if one fails, others are still in place. For example, if a cover crop fails to get well established because of drought or frost, agroforestry systems still provide living cover on the landscape.

Agroforestry is not the only way to create and maintain healthy soil, but agroforestry supports soil health and more.

Information Sheets

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Inside Agroforestry

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Agroforestry Notes

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Research

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Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Creating and maintaining a healthy soil is more than just reducing erosion. The benefits of a healthy soil go far beyond crop production.

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The K-State Research and Extension Soil Testing Lab is a not-for-profit organization providing high quality analysis of soil, plant, forage, grain, and water for farmers, homeowners, and researchers.
Know which tests you want to order? Download the forms for each test and submit your samples today. Already been here? Log into your account to access your test results.
Soil Analysis

Many different analyses for soil samples are conducted at the Soil Testing Lab. The most common analyses requested include tests for pH, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), nitrate (NO ₃), and organic matter.

Lime Analysis

Agricultural lime analysis is commonly conducted for producers and lime quarries. Samples are oven dried before analysis, which can cause the analytical time to vary depending on the moisture content of the sample that is submitted.

Plant, Forage & Grain Analysis

Plant, forage, and grain samples are sent to the KSU Soil Testing Lab for nutritional status and nitrate testing. Analysis time can vary depending on the moisture levels of the sample.

Water Analysis

We offer water analysis for nutrient and irrigation water quality analysis for producers and full analysis of water samples for researchers. However, full drinking water analysis is not offered.

Leaf Analysis

We routinely test for leaf nutrient content. It is very important that the appropriate polant or leaf part be submitted to the lab.

Soil Fertilizer Recommendations

Managing soil health and nutrients is crucial to plant health and growth. Here, we've collected articles and resources to help you make soil fertilizer decisions.

Sample Drop-off

You are welcome to bring your samples to the lab in room 2308 during business hours or put them in the drop box on the northwest side of the building after hours.
Shipping your samples instead? Get a shipping label through UPS.

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Our soil testing lab test more than just soil for farmers, researcher, and homeowners. We conduct high quality analysis of soil, plant, forage, grain, and water to aid decisions and

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Soil is not an inert growing medium - it is a living and life-giving natural resource. It is teaming with billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that are the foundation of an elegant symbiotic ecosystem.

How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

Step 2: Start an Application

Step 3: Check your eligibility

Step 4: Rank your application

Step 5: Implement your plan

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| Natural Resources Conservation Service

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A cross-section shows healthy soil.

Healthy Soil for Life

All living things depend on healthy soil, which is essential for:

Growing healthy plants, including the ones we depend on for food;

Absorbing, storing, and cleaning the water we use for drinking and irrigation;

Regulating the temperature of the earth and air quality by trapping greenhouse gases and eliminating them from the atmosphere; and

Providing habitat for billions of organisms.

Get the Dirt on Soil

Compacted soil can increase stormwater runoff and create unhealthy conditions in your landscape.

Soil forms over thousands of years as minerals weathered from rock combine with water, air, and organic matter from both living and dead organisms. Different-sized mineral particles, such as sand, silt, and clay, give soil its texture. Decomposer organisms, such as earthworms, nematodes, and centipedes, are an essential part of the soil-building process, breaking down once-living organisms and incorporating them into the soil. Different combinations of minerals, organic matter, water, and air have created thousands of different types of soil. In fact, scientists have identified over 70,000 in the United States.
Create a Jersey-Friendly Yard: Start with Healthy Soil
Soil is Alive!

Beneath your feet is a bustling hub of activity. A tablespoon of healthy soil is host to more individual living organisms than there are people on the planet. Worms, insects, mites, spiders, centipedes, fungi, and bacteria are all hard at work keeping the soil and your plants healthy. These underground organisms cycle nutrients, aerate soil, and stabilize soil pH. They also prey on garden pests and provide food for wildlife.

Plants and soil life depend on each other for survival. The leaves that fall to the ground and stems that die-off at the end of the growing season feed soil organisms, which in turn break them down and release the nutrients that plants need to grow. This recycling process keeps both soil organisms and plants alive and healthy.
USDA NRCS: The Science of Soil Health: Soil Feeds Plants and Vice Versa
Soil, Water, and Air

Soil is made up of approximately 50% solids (minerals and organic matter) and 50% pores filled with either water or air. The water and air in the pore spaces perform important functions for plants. Nutrients dissolved in soil water are taken in by plant roots, and soil air provides oxygen to the roots. The amount of pore space varies with the type of soil - sandy soils have more and clay soils have less. Soil organisms help improve soil porosity - as they eat, grow, and move through soil, they create openings for the storage of air and water.

Healthy Soil Stores and Cleans Water

When soil has the right mix of minerals, organic matter, and pore spaces, it acts like a sponge, absorbing rainwater and storing it. This underground water not only provides a steady source of water to plant roots but also replenishes the groundwater supplies we use for drinking water in New Jersey.

Healthy soil filters water as it sinks in, removing or trapping impurities before they can reach our groundwater supplies. Soil micro-organisms play an important role in this process, biologically removing disease-causing pathogens and other impurities from the water.

Don't Treat Your Soil Like Dirt!

When soil is pressed together from constant foot traffic, machinery, or heavy objects, it loses pore spaces and becomes compacted. Without pores, soils lose the ability to hold the water and air that plants need for healthy growth. Unlike healthy soil, which soaks up rain water, compacted soil acts more like pavement. Storm water runs off compacted soil and carries pollutants like fertilizers and pesticides into our waterways.

The Ocean County Soil Conservation District has been a leader in both research and education efforts for healthy soil. Its Soil Health Improvement Project (SHIP) tested different soil restoration techniques with the goal of developing simple, low-cost solutions for homeowners with compacted soil in their yards.

Soil Health Videos:
Nature is Speaking: Soil Health USDA NRCS: The Science of Soil Health: Compaction
Landscape for Life: Sustainable Soils
Cornell University: Soil Basics Soil Science Society of America
Soil Science Society of America: Why Soil Is Important
USDA NRCS: Soil Health Nuggets
New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station NJAES Soil Lab
NRCS NSSC: Water Movement in Soils USDA NRCS Unlock the Secrets in the Soil: Benefits of No-Till
USDA NRCS Unlock the Secrets in the Soil: Soil Energy
Additional Resources:

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Healthy Soils, Healthy Waters - Jersey-Friendly Yards

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Healthy soil is essential to healthy plants and landscapes. Soil health is also critical to protecting lakes, rivers and bays.

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Resource

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Soil is one of the most important elements of an ecosystem, and it contains both biotic and abiotic factors. The composition of abiotic factors is particularly important as it can impact the biotic factors, such as what kinds of plants can grow in an ecosystem.

Subjects

Biology, Ecology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Geography, Physical Geography

Image

Soil Layers

Soil is composed of both biotic-living and once-living things, like plants and insects-and abiotic materials-nonliving factors, like minerals, water, and air.

Photo from Getty Images

Soil contains air, water, and minerals as well as plant and animal matter, both living and dead. These soil components fall into two categories. In the first category are biotic factors-all the living and once-living things in soil, such as plants and insects. The second category consists of abiotic factors, which include all nonliving things-for example, minerals, water, and air. The most common minerals found in soil that support plant growth are phosphorus, and potassium and also, nitrogen gas. Other, less common minerals include calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. The biotic and abiotic factors in the soil are what make up the soil's composition.

Soil composition is a mix of soil ingredients that varies from place to place. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)-part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-has compiled soil maps and data for 95 percent of the United States. The NRCS has found that each state has a "state soil" with a unique soil "recipe" that is specific to that state. These differing soils are the reason why there is such a wide variety of crops grown in the United States.

Consider the soils of three states: Hawai'i, Iowa, and Maine. Hawai'i's deep, well-drained state soil contains volcanic ash that makes it perfect for growing sugar cane, as well as ginger roots, papaya, and macadamia nuts. Iowa, which is in Midwest region of the United States, has a state soil that is good for farming because it is made up of a thick layer of organic matter from the decomposition of prairie grasses. Corn and soybeans are the primary crops grown in these soils. The state soil of Maine, located in the northeastern part of the country, is made from materials left behind after local glaciers melted. This soil is perfect for growing trees-specifically, red spruce and balsam fir. Many of the trees being grown today in Maine are harvested for timber or for making paper.

Soil scientists conduct various tests on soils to learn about their composition. Soil testing can identify the amounts of biotic and abiotic factors in the soil. The results of these tests can also reveal if the soil has too much of a specific mineral or if it needs more nutrients to support plants. Scientists also measure other factors, such as the amount of water in the soil and how it varies over time-for instance, is the soil unusually wet or dry? The tests can also identify contaminants and heavy metal in the soil and determine the soil's nitrogen content and pH level (acidity or alkalinity). All of these measurements can be used to determine the soil's health.

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Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society

Author

National Geographic Society

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Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society, National Geographic Society

Margot Willis, National Geographic Society

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Soil is one of the most important elements of an ecosystem, and it contains both biotic and abiotic factors. The composition of abiotic factors is particularly important as it can impact the biotic factors, such as what kinds of plants can grow in an ecosystem.

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The Role of Minerals in Making Great Soil - Emma

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The Role of Minerals in Making Great Soil - Emma

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By Jeff Gillman, PhD - for GrowingAGreenerWorld.com

By now everyone knows that the best thing to add to a soil to make it work for their plants is organic matter. In your garden organic matter is usually added in the form of compost, though it can also come from organic mulches such as wood chips, straw, or leaves as they break down.

Organic matter helps your soil hold nutrients, water, and can even help air infiltrate the soil. In many ways organic matter is the perfect media to grow plants, which is why most potting soils that you can buy at the garden center are composed almost entirely of organic matter.

Knowing all this you may ask yourself why you don't just fill your raised beds with nothing but organic matter and replace all of your garden soil with compost, after all, this stuff is fantastic and will work great all by itself! Right?

Actually no. Organic matter is great, but that doesn't mean you can make a garden soil, and especially not a raised bed, with organic matter alone.

Organic material comes in many forms, but the most common one that you are likely to fill your raised bed with is compost. Other types of organic matter that may go into your beds might include decomposed wood chips or pine bark, decomposing leaves, or a host of other things - honestly there are too many possibilities to name them all.

With a very few exceptions (such as biochar), these materials are not done breaking down yet. It is true that organic materials has some excellent qualities, but over the course of months and years this organic material will continue to change, breaking down further into even smaller particles, and usually offering worse drainage as it breaks down.

To maintain good media structure while organic matter breaks down you need something besides organic matter, and that something is soil.

Deciding on a soil to add to your raised bed does not need to be difficult, usually the soil around your garden is just fine. A raised bed should consist of about 50 to 70 percent soil and about 30-50% organic matter if possible.

Raised beds are naturally well drained. If your raised bed is more than a foot or so tall then you should consider using a soil with more clay. If it is under a foot then more sand is appropriate.

In either situation the soil and organic matter will work together to provide nutrients, air and appropriate drainage.

There are mineral additives, such as granite dust, greensand, lime, and gypsum, that many gardeners have had success with over the years. These mineral dusts usually offer very specific minerals to the soil and may also offer better soil structure in very specific situations such as when you have a lot of sodium in your soils.

There is nothing wrong with trying these dusts, but you will have better success with them if you know what your soils are or aren't offering to your plants, so it is a good idea to have a soil test done before considering them.

Granite dust and greensand offer potassium and some trace elements while gypsum offers calcium and sulfur. Lime offers calcium and magnesium while also increasing soil pH. Lime is only a good additive if your pH is too low and should only be added after having a soil test done.

Because of the high demand for calcium that certain vegetables, such as tomatoes, have, gypsum can be an excellent addition. I never grow tomatoes without a few eggshells or some gypsum added to the ground around their roots.

If you choose to add a mineral amendment then be sure to follow the directions on the bag closely. It is possible to add too much of a good thing.

With any plant the key to success is creating an environment that contains all of the things it needs to grow. Plants evolved to have their roots immersed in a mix of soil and organic matter, and that is what you should strive to offer them.

Joe Lamp'l is the Host and Executive Producer of the award winning PBS television series Growing A Greener World. Off camera, Joe dedicates his time to promoting sustainability through his popular books, blog, podcast series, and nationally syndicated newspaper columns. Follow Joe on Twitter

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Adding Minerals to Garden Soil - Growing A Greener World

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Adding mineral dusts to your garden soil can help with your overall soil structure.

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Healthy Soils for healthy lives, Chelidy Pridey

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Healthy Soils for healthy lives, Chelidy Pridey

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A member of the Meki Batu Fruit and Vegetable Growers Cooperative in Ethiopia stands ready to apply fertilizer to his field.
In honor of the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, IFDC Staff Members, Dr. Mercy Ngunjiri and Quintar Genga discuss the importance of soil health for biodiversity.
Soil equals life! Not considering air, all living things, including humans, require three basic things for survival: food, water, and shelter. Did you know that all these are related to the soil? Soil offers provisional services of food, fiber, energy, fuel, raw materials, infrastructure support, and water purification, among others. Soil is also a home for organisms. It is known that a teaspoon of soil contains more microorganisms than there are people on the planet. Therefore, it can be said that healthy soil enhances and sustains a healthy life. Soil health is the continued capacity for soil to function in support and sustenance of all these services to humans, animals, and plants. Healthy soils are fundamental for human survival. Despite all these benefits, the soil is being subjected to unprecedented pressures, causing it to erode and degrade at unsustainable rates. One-third of the planet's land is currently moderately to highly degraded, yet it takes at least 100 years for an inch of soil to form, depending on climate, vegetation, and other factors. This means that the future of the soil is precarious.

"Ideally, every human should be an ambassador in protecting our planet Earth; it is our present and future!"

Soil is the foundation of agriculture, and humans rely on it for over 90% of food production. With a high global population growth rate, a twofold increase in food demand in the next four to five decades is predicted. Two-thirds of soil degradation is currently attributed to agriculture, and with a growing global population, there is more demand for the soil to produce more food. Although the 1960s Green Revolution brought about a great increase in food production by introducing high-yielding crop varieties and chemical fertilizers, food security is still an issue, with climate change majorly affecting its four pillars: availability, access, utilization, and stability. Sustainability implies managing and protecting Earth's natural resources and ecosystems, including climate and atmosphere, for both current and future generations. Therefore, the question is: Is there hope for our planet's sustainability? Also, how much capacity does our planet have to sustain food systems, and hence life? We believe that there is hope for our planet through the soil.

Soil is more than just dirt, and its health and quality are critical for the sustainability of our planet. From an agricultural perspective, soil nutrients are continually degraded through poor nutrient management, soil erosion, overgrazing, and deforestation. However, soil nutrients can be replenished by adopting high-integrity agricultural management practices, including conservation agriculture, through cover crops, crop rotation, minimum or no-tillage, mulching, and integrated soil fertility management. Furthermore, in the face of climate change, climate-smart agriculture is required to support sustainable agriculture development strategies that enhance food security and maintain ecosystem services. Nature tends to regenerate its biodiversity, and as such, integrated and holistic soil management practices will support the carbon cycle, bearing in mind that soil holds the largest portion of active carbon on the planet. Soil carbon helps to provide energy for microorganism growth, promotes the formation of new cells, and mitigates climate change. As a result, more crop yields and resilience can be experienced amid climate change.

To enhance food security and maintain the ecosystem, efforts to promote soil health and quality should be a top priority for the global society. Although the solution lies beneath our feet, many humans barely realize it. Dr. Mercy Ngunjiri elaborated, "Ideally, every human should be an ambassador in protecting our planet Earth; it is our present and future!" We must intentionally protect and preserve our soil to save our planet because our future, and that of subsequent generations, depends upon our current actions. We need a future where soil degradation and climate change are kept at bay. A future where billions of people can be fed. A future where our wildlife and ecosystems are protected, with more biodiversity and trees providing fresher air. A future where clean water is readily available. A future where people and nature can thrive together on Earth. The call to action is for all of us - global society and governments - to continuously protect, sustainably manage, and consciously restore the health of our soil through support and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices.

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A member of the Meki Batu Fruit and Vegetable Growers Cooperative in Ethiopia stands ready to apply fertilizer to his field. In honor of the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22, IFDC Staff Members, Dr. Mercy Ngunjiri and Quintar Genga discuss the importance of soil health for biodiversity.

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Six tips for healthy soil in your garden

Test your soil.

Add organic matter.

Incorporate compost to compacted soil to increase air, water and nutrients for plants.

Protect topsoil with mulch or cover crops.

Don't use chemicals unless there's no alternative.

Rotate crops.

Soil is so much more than dirt. Soil is a living ecosystem-a large community of living organisms linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

Every teaspoon of soil is home to billions of microorganisms-bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, and earthworms that play important roles.

Bacteria and fungi break down dead plant and animal tissue which become nutrients for plants.

Nematodes eat plant material and other soil organisms, releasing plant nutrients in their waste.

Specialized mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationships with plants. The fungi bring hard-to-reach nutrients and water directly to plant roots, and the plants provide the fungi with carbohydrates.

Worms and insects shred and chew organic material into smaller bits bacteria and fungi can easily access.

Garden earthworms burrow and create pathways in soil that fill with air and water for plant roots.
However, they are not native to Minnesota. To prevent spreading them into forested areas, don't dump fishing bait or move soil with earthworms.

A healthy soil ecosystem provides plants with easy access to air, water, and nutrients. Here are six tips for achieving optimum soil health in your garden:

Test your soil

Understanding your soil is the first step to creating an optimum soil ecosystem. Submit a sample of your garden soil to the University of Minnesota Soil Testing Lab, located on the St. Paul campus.

Your soil test results will include information about soil texture, pH, nutrients, and organic matter, and provide fertilizer recommendations for the plants you plan to grow.

Add organic matter

Organic matter improves soil physical properties such as air and water availability, allowing for healthy root growth.

Organic matter is composed of living plant roots and organisms, decomposing plant and animal residue in varying stages of decay, and enzymes secreted by soil organisms that act like glue to bind soil particles.

As soil organisms like fungi and bacteria break down plant and animal parts, nutrients become available to plants. The plants, in turn, feed the soil organisms with their remains.

Highly decomposed plant material is called humus, a stable and important source of plant nutrients great for growing plants.

Like us, plants need a variety of nutrients for optimum health.

There are 17 essential nutrients all plants need to grow.

Macronutrients are needed in larger quantities:

Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen come from air and water.

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium come from fertilizer and organic matter; phosphorus and potassium also come from weathering of soil particles.

Calcium, sulfur and magnesium are usually sufficient in Minnesota soils unless the soil is very sandy.

Micronutrients are needed in small quantities: iron, manganese, molybdenum, chlorine, boron, copper, and zinc; these are also usually sufficient in Minnesota soils.

A soil test can tell you what nutrients your soil is lacking.

Organic matter such as compost can be a source of macronutrients like nitrogen, as well as micronutrients such as manganese and zinc.

Provide air and water

Plant roots and microbes need access to varying amounts of air and water for optimum growth. Fortunately, soil is full of microenvironments-tiny habitats that differ in the amount of available air, water and nutrients.

Soil compaction and disturbance such as excessive tillage can eliminate these important microenvironments. This makes it hard for plant roots to penetrate the soil, absorb water and nutrients, and interact with beneficial microbes.

Disturbing soil also disturbs weed seeds, exposing them to light and increasing germination-in other words, more weeds!

To minimize compaction and provide an optimal growing environment:

Use designated walking paths through planting beds to avoid compacting soil around plant roots. Some design options include:

Plant in raised beds.

Beds no wider than 4 feet that allow you to reach across.

Free-standing beds with access on all sides.

To reduce or eliminate tilling consider using hand tools to prepare garden beds.

Incorporate compost into compacted soil to increase air, water and nutrients for plants.

Flowers and vegetables: incorporate 1 to 2 inches of compost 6 to 8 inches deep.

Before planting trees and shrubs, incorporate 4 inches of compost 12 inches deep.

Keep it covered

The top few inches of soil contain an abundance of microorganisms, organic matter and soil nutrients.

Mulch or cover crops can be used to protect valuable topsoil from erosion and to add rich organic matter as they decompose.

Raindrops landing on bare soil can splash soil particles several feet into the air.

Mulching bare soil around plants prevents the splashing of soil particles and soil-borne pathogens onto leaves and stems, reducing the occurrence of disease.

Mulch and cover crops conserve soil moisture, minimize weeds, and reduce plant stress by moderating soil temperatures.

Minimize chemical use

Pesticides kill pests, but they also can kill beneficial soil microbes and insects.

Before reaching for a chemical:

Always consider alternatives to pesticides first, and low-impact pesticides like horticultural oils, insecticidal soap, spinosad, and Bt (Bacillus thurgiensis)

Choose disease-resistant plant varieties and plants that will grow well on your site.

Hand-pick larger bugs, such as Japanese beetles, from plants, and drop them in soapy water to kill them.

Use a blast of water from your garden hose to knock insects off plants.

Use physical barriers like row covers, bags on apples, or fences to keep out larger critters.

Plant damage from insects and diseases is often cosmetic and not necessarily life-threatening. Visit the What's wrong with my plant tool to find out what diseases or insects may be affecting your plants and how to best treat them.

Rotate crops

While most microbes are beneficial to plants, disease-causing microbes may overwinter in soil and plant litter. These pathogens prefer to infest and feed on certain plants. Planting the same crop in the same soil year after year can increase diseases.

Rotating your crops:

Reduces disease-causing pathogens by eliminating their food source.

Prevents nutrient depletion.

Plants with long roots, like carrots, absorb nutrients deeper in the soil.

Shallow-rooted onions absorb nutrients in the top few inches of soil.

Legumes, such as beans and peas, add nutrients back into soil.

Add nitrogen to the soil by forming a mutual relationship with rhizobia, root-inhabiting bacteria that take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a plant-available form.

When the legumes die, the nitrogen then becomes available to other plants in the rotation.

Rotation guidelines

Crop rotation is usually based on plant families. Plants in the same family are often susceptible to similar pests and diseases and tend to have comparable nutrient and cultural requirements.

For example, rotate crops from the cabbage family with crops from the sunflower family, or rotate crops from the squash family with crops from the grass family.

Other families, such as carrot or goosefoot, can be used to fill in the rotation wherever necessary.

If you don't have the planting space to rotate crops, combine different plant families so that there is a diversity of crops in your vegetable garden.

Plant families

Carrot family (Apiaceae): carrot, parsnip, parsley, celery, celeriac, dill, chervil, cilantro, fennel

Sunflower family (Asteraceae): sunflower, lettuce, endive, escarole, Jerusalem artichoke, artichoke, chamomile, tarragon, echinacea

Cabbage family (Brassicaceae): cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnip, radish, kale, collards, rutabaga, watercress, horseradish

Goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae): beet, chard, spinach

Gourd family (Cucurbitaceae): cucumber, melon, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkin, gourd

Legume family (Fabaceae): bean, pea, cowpea, lentil

Mint family (Lamiaceae): basil, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint

Onion family (Liliaceae): onion, scallion, garlic, leek, shallot, chive, asparagus

Grass family (Poaceae): corn, sorghum, wheat, oats, barley

Nightshade family (Solanaceae): potato, tomato, tomatillo, pepper (hot and sweet), eggplant

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The choices you make in your garden affect soil health. Learn the steps to take to have healthy soil and a healthy garden.

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Soil Health

Soil health is a multi-faceted area of study in the Department of Agronomy. There are chemical, physical, and biological/carbon-based components of soil quality and active research programs in all three areas.

Chemical

Chemical factors that affect plant growth

Interaction between soil chemistry and microbial communities

Remediation of contaminated soils

Physical

Soil aggregate formation and stability

Soil water infiltration capability

Biological & Organic

Effect of tillage, nutrients, and cropping systems on soil microbial populations

Soil carbon sequestration

Research Faculty

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Soil health is a multi-faceted area of study in the Department of Agronomy. There are chemical, physical, and biological/carbon-based components of soil quality and active research programs in all three areas.

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The North Texas Municipal Water District has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB), Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and Texas Wildlife Association along with over twenty other organizations across the state in a campaign to highlight the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas. Soil and Water Stewardship Week is April 24 through May 1, 2022, and the focus this year is " Healthy Soil, Healthy Life."

The basis of our lives begins with the soil beneath our feet. Soil provides the food on our plates, the clothes on our backs, the foundation for our homes and offices, the luscious grass that the children play in and the trees we need to breathe. It all starts with soil...healthy soil, healthy life. ( Download printable flyer)

Healthy soil gives us life through providing clean air and water, ample crops and forests, productive grazing lands, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Soil does this by providing five essential functions:

Water Management - Soil helps control where rain, snowmelt, and irrigation water goes. Water and dissolved solutes flow over the land or into and through the soil.

Sustaining Plant and Animal Life - The diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil.

Filtering and Buffering Potential Pollutants - The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials.

Cycling Nutrients - Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and many other nutrients are stored, transformed, and cycled in the soil.

Physical Stability and Support - Soil structure provides a medium for plant roots as well as provides support for human structures and protection for archeological treasures.

Since 1939, the TSSWCB and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) across Texas have been working to encourage the wise and productive use of natural resources. It is our goal to ensure the availability of those resources for future generations, so that all Texans' present and future needs can be met in a manner that promotes a clean, healthy environment and strong economic growth.

Your local SWCD can work with you to develop a conservation plan for your farm, ranch, or forest to improve soil health and provide resources on responsible natural resource management. Conservation plans can be tailored to the needs of each individual landowner including crop rotation, wildlife habitat enhancement, forest management, nutrient management, pest management, irrigation system efficiency and erosion control measures.

As the population of the state continues to increase, maintaining the productivity of our soil and water resources becomes increasingly vital in meeting the food, fiber and resource needs for all Texans. TSSWCB and SWCDs are committed to working with farmers, ranchers, and private landowners to conserve and protect the natural resources of Texas.

Partnering organizations in the "Healthy Soil, Healthy Life" campaign includes Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas, AgriLife Extension, Association of Rural Communities of Texas, Ducks Unlimited, Farmhouse Vineyards, North Texas Municipal Water District, Plains Cotton Growers, Texan by Nature, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas Association of Dairymen, Texas Conservation Association for Soil and Water, Texas Corn Producers, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Grain & Feed Association, Texas Poultry Association, Texas Wheat, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas Watershed Steward Program, Upper Trinity Conservation Trust, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Water Grows.

For more information on "Healthy Soil, Healthy Life", please visit www.tsswcb.texas.gov.

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NTMWD Shares Healthy Soil Healthy Life Message for Soil and Water Stewardship Week - North Texas Municipal Water District

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The North Texas Municipal Water District has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB), Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and Texas Wildlife Association along with over twenty other organizations across the state in a campaign to highlight the importance of voluntary landNTMWD Shares Healthy Soil Healthy Life Message for Soil and Water Stewardship Week...

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Soil is life. You've heard us say it. You've seen it on our t-shirts. But, is it really something we believe in and practice? YES! At Colonial Gardens, we 100% back the notion that healthy soil is the root of all things living. Soil itself is even a living thing. The produce you see in the Colonial Farms Market, the starter plants growing in the greenhouse, the apple trees blooming in the orchards are all created from the very notion that soil is life. But it's just soil, there's not much that really needs to be done to it right? Wrong! We're here to dig into soil!

What is soil?

Besides that brown stuff that gets our hands dirty or cakes into our shoes, soil is the basis of all life. Soil is one of the oldest living organisms on the planet. Think back to the Cavemen, they walked on soil. The Dinosaurs ate plants from the soil. The first houses and structures were made from soil.

Soil Layers

Soil is made into layers called Soil Horizons. The top layer is called the O-Horizon, though not always present in all soils. This is the layer of soil we plant in, we dig into, we step on. The O-Horizon is made up of organic material that is still decomposing and feeds down into the A-Horizon. The A-Horizon is your top soil, rich, and full of clay. In this layer, your plants are really growing, pulling up all that organic material from the layers beneath and being saturated from the O-Horizon above. Next, is your B-Horizon. This sub-soil layer is The Zone of Accumulation. It's full of Calcium, Iron, and other nutrients that are built up and altered. Here, we find those deep tree roots thriving! Lastly, the C-Horizon is where the parent material is slowly broken down and moving up into the other layers.

Each layer depends on the other. Throughout time, the cycle begins that the rain washes down all the organic from the top layers into the bottom layers. That material is broken down then released back up into the top layers producing quality and nutritious vegetables, colorful and strong flowers.

Soil vs. Compost

Soil and compost- both are dark and rich, both are used to plant stuff. Compost is actually an addative to soil. Compost is organic material that is broken down. This can be old plants, food waste, wood chips, or other recycled materials. These materials are broken down with microbes and turned into compost, once it's broken down and becomes part of the soil it turns into humus. Think of compost as a natural fertilizer.

Soil, however, contains minerals and is made up of compost, those minerals, and rock particles. Soil thrives when we add compost to it. The compost feeds the microbes and in turn, produces healthy plants and food.

Organic Soil

Organic soil is very different and unique from other soil that crops and plants are grown in. Organic soil only uses manure and non-synthetic chemicals or fertilizers (animal and plant based) to keep it alive. For soil to be truly organic, it must have only certified organic fertilizers and pesticides used on it in the past 3 years. Organic soil most of the time, does not use compost as it's microbes are untouched and can thrive on their own.

Colonial Soil

Soils are broken into Orders based on different factors such as parent materials, climate and topography. So, the soil at Colonial Gardens is a little different say that the soil in St. Joseph or Joplin. And very different from soil in Oregon, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois. Each order is unique in its soil characteristics. Our soil is very versatile, good for growing different plants and crops. Though it may not seem like it, our soil is a thick, soft clay base. It's prone to compaction and has a high shrink/ swell capacity. Our soil drains moderately well, the sand content is very low and the clay is made up of small particles.

Farming at Colonial Farms

Narrow it down even further, let's take a look at the Colonial Farms soil used to grow the produce in the Farms market or the fruit trees in the orchards. Our practices here are a mix of conventional and organic farming. We believe strongly in organic practices with synthetic imputes. We like to keep our soil healthy so the produce grows more nutrient and our plants are healthier. We apply organic fertilizers such as the Bio-Life 800+ which is full of microorganism and good bacteria helping to feed the microbes in the soil. Overtime, it is our goal to work the ground less. Letting the soil take care of and heal itself.

At Colonial, we use many practices that help our soil such as planting cover crops. Cover crops manage soil erosion, improve soil fertility, prevent water loss through, suppress weeds, pests, and diseases, increase biodiversity to help always keep the soil working.

So, now that you know a little more about why we're such soil freaks, you'll understand why we are so passionate about preserving soil and understanding the true meaning of the concept of soil. We can never make more soil. But what we can do is help preserve it with some of the techniques such as cover crops and good agriculture practices.

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Healthy Soil, Healthy Life | Colonial Gardens

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Soil, the root of life. Keeping our soil healthy and happy with agricluture practices will produce quality and nutrient food and plants for the people.

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Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District

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Why Healthy Soil Is a Priority

Soil is more than just a medium for growing your plants - it has a life of its own! Each scoop of soil contains millions of microbes that keep the tiny ecosystem functioning, which is essential for growing food and creating living landscapes. When we think about soil as a living system, we can better understand how its health can change based on how we treat it.

Soil health plays a major role in the health of all living organisms. We need to care for the soil in our landscapes, just as we care for plants, animals, and other humans, for it to function properly. It is important to consider ways to protect and boost your soil when planning for your farm, landscape, garden, or flower bed.

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On this page: Why Healthy Soil is a Priority Soil is Alive! What is soil made of? How do we assess soil health? What are the best ways to keep soil

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Root Growth in Healthy Soil

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) defines healthy soils as those with the continued capacity to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Construction, farming, and other human activities compact soil and deplete nutrients. Compost and mulch improve soil's physical, biological, and chemical properties and help soils regain their natural functions.

Soil Organic Matter

Compost in California contains approximately 50 percent organic matter, and of that, approximately 25 percent is carbon. Although plants generally consume carbon from the air, compost carbon nourishes soil microorganisms. Organic matter is composed of the remains of organisms, such as plants and animals and their waste products. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N) is a common index used for assessing feedstock and the maturity of any given compost. C:N ratios in finished compost range from 12:1 to 20:1 but are ideally between 14:1 and 18:1.

Compost increases organic matter in soils, which tend to be deficient in organic matter. Soil structure-the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and the pore space between them-is critical to how the soil functions. Organic matter causes soil to clump and form soil aggregates, which improves soil structure. With better soil structure, permeability (infiltration of water through the soil) improves, in turn improving the soil's ability to take up and hold water. When the solid parts-sand, silt and clay particles-cling together as coarse, granular aggregates, the soil has a good balance of solid parts and pore space. Soil organic matter also helps develop stable soil aggregates. Fungi and bacteria produce organic glues as they decompose plant residues. Fungi fed with organic matter secrete a gooey protein called glomalin, an effective short-term cementing agent for large aggregates. Water-resistant substances produced by microorganisms, roots, and other organic matter provide long-term aggregate stability from a few months to a few years.

Soil, especially healthy soil, is full of life. Millions of species and billions of organisms make up a complex and diverse mix of microscopic and macroscopic life that represents the greatest concentration of biomass anywhere on the planet. Bacteria, algae, microscopic insects, earthworms, beetles, ants, mites, and fungi are among them.

According to the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service:

Consider bacteria, the soil microbes with the highest numbers, for example: you can fit 40 million of them on the end of one pin. In fact, there are more soil microorganisms (microbes for short) in a teaspoonful of soil than there are people on the earth. These microbes, which make up only one-half of one percent of the total soil mass, are the yeasts, algae, protozoa, bacteria, nematodes, and fungi that process soil into rich, dark, stable humus. Like other living creatures, the organisms in the soil also need food and shelter. Some feed on dead organic matter, and some eat other microbes. As a group, they cycle nutrients, build the soil and give it structure.

What do Soil Organisms Do?

Bacteria: Feed on organic matter, store and cycle nitrogen, and decompose pesticides.

Fungi: Up to 3,000 species of fungi are in the soil. Some feed on dead organic matter like crop residues that are more difficult to break down. Others are parasites that attack other microbes. Some fan out from the root to get more nutrients and hold more water for the plant, delivering nutrients to the plant in exchange for carbon.

Protozoa: Eat bacteria, fungi, and algae. When they eat bacteria, their main food source, they unlock and slowly release nitrogen into the soil environment. They convert organic nitrogen to inorganic nitrogen that is available to plants.

Mites: Decompose and shred organic matter as an important part of the nitrogen cycle.

Nematodes: These microscopic worms are an important part of the nitrogen cycle. Most are non-pathogenic and do not cause disease. They eat other organisms in the soil.

Earthworms: Expel partially decomposed organic matter, produce nutrient-rich casts, and create lubricated tunnels that aid soil structure and water movement in the soil.

Soil Physical Properties

Compost use improves soil physical properties, including increasing water infiltration rate, increasing soil aggregation and stability, and decreasing soil bulk density. Lowering soil bulk density increases water holding capacity (WHC).

For more information contact: Organic Materials, organics@calrecycle.ca.gov

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Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment

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What is Soil Health?

Soil health (or soil quality) has been defined as the capacity of a soil to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation over a human time scale. In more specific terms, a healthy soil must have: good tilth and drainage, sufficient depth for crop growth, sufficient exchangeable nutrient supply (not excessive or prone to leaching), small population of weeds, insect pests or plant pathogens, large population of beneficial organisms, no toxins, and resilience to adverse conditions. A number of individual soil tests may be used to assess soil health (including those obtained with Routine Soil Analysis); however, a comprehensive evaluation should include a suite of complementary tests to measure soil chemical, physical, and biological properties.

Characteristics of Healthy Soils

(summarized from Cornell's Berry Soil and Nutrient Management - A Guide for Educators and Growers)

What are the characteristics of a healthy soil? Sufficient soil depth for plant root development is important; a soil depth of 8 inches or greater is preferred in the case of berry crops. A healthy soil should have good tilth, water storage and drainage. It should have sufficient but not excessive nutrients and be free of chemicals harmful to plants such as heavy metals, herbicide residues or other contaminants.

Healthy soils should have low populations of plant disease and parasitic organisms such as fungi, bacteria, nematodes, springtails, and so on. Conversely, a healthy soil should contain high populations of beneficial organisms like mycorrhizae and earthworms.

Finally, healthy soils should exhibit resistance to being degraded and along with that - resiliency or the ability to recover quickly from adverse events such as flooding, drought, hurricanes, etc.

Understanding the Three Soil Health Processes

Think of soil health then in terms of the three major realms that impact it: the physical, the chemical, and the biological. These three realms intercept and interact (Figure 2). If any process is compromised, the others are also affected. A healthy soil is balanced in this respect and therefore provides for better growing conditions, crop resiliency and reduced inputs.

Over past decades, chemical aspects of soil were, in general, perhaps overemphasized. While good testing procedures and crop recommendations resulted from this focus, not nearly as much attention was paid to the physical and biological aspects of soil. Research is ongoing in the physical and biological realms today, providing a more complete understanding of soil health and as a result, more comprehensive short-term and long-term management strategies for soil health improvement.

The Chemical Processes

The chemical processes in soil provide essential nutrients for plants. Soil pH is a critical component of the chemical process as it affects nutrient availability. Any changes in soil pH must be addressed, before the planting is established; failure to adjust soil pH to optimal levels for the crop will seriously impact plant establishment as well as future crop production. Soil pH adjustment is more difficult after a perennial crop is established and may reduce the success of the planting.

Chemical processes also includes both macronutrients (nutrients needed in larger quantities, such as N, P and K), secondary nutrients like Ca, Mg and S, and micronutrients required in smaller quantities (such as B and Zn); specific recommendations have been developed for correcting deficiencies of these nutrients essential for berry crop production.

The Physical Processes (summarized)

The physical processes of soil may be limited by inherent or dynamic qualities; some of these may be remediated; others may not.

Internal drainage - poor internal drainage reduces root growth and function and may support disease development.

Water availability is a function of soil texture, soil organic matter content, and rooting depth.

Soil aggregate (crumbs) stability - is a function of adequate soil organic matter which generates humates and other substances that hold soil particles together and contribute to good soil tilth.

Soil structure - soils with a range of pore sizes are able to provide good drainage, aeration, and rooting, while also retaining moisture.

Compaction - compaction layers, either near the surface or deeper, can inhibit root penetration and also water drainage contributing to excess runoff or erosion.

The Biological Processes

Understanding soil biology is very much at forefront of our science today. Soil represents a complex environment with highly variable conditions. Most biological activity occurs near the surface of the soil where most of the organic matter is located. There are 3 general types of organic matter found in soil: Living, dead, and very dead. All 3 play important roles in helping produce high yields of healthy crops. Adding organic matter to soil results in many benefits.

Living Organic Matter - includes plant roots, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and many other types of organisms. They use resources in soil in various ways, decomposing organic matter, cycling nutrients to make them available for plants, influencing other biota (such as by supressing pathogens), and responding to their chemical and physical environment in very complex ways.

Dead Organic Matter - is composed of recently dead soil organisms and crop residues that provide food (energy and nutrients) for soil organisms to live and function. Dead organic matter is also called "active" or "particulate" organic matter. This is the other essential partner in mineralizing nutrients for plants, aggregating soils, and forming humus.

Very Dead Organic Matter - is not a biologically active fraction; rather it consists of well-decomposed organic materials, also called humus. Humus supports the chemical activities of soil; it contains very high amounts of negative charges that hold nutrients and cations in the soil. Humus also has high water-holding capacity, and stores carbon.

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What is Soil Health? Soil health (or soil quality) has been defined as the capacity of a soil to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation over a human time scale.

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WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE? - Lucia Forner

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WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE? - Lucia Forner

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There’s a transformation taking place on farms across the United States.

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Root Growth in Healthy Soil

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) defines healthy soils as those with the continued capacity to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. Construction, farming, and other human activities compact soil and deplete nutrients. Compost and mulch improve soil's physical, biological, and chemical properties and help soils regain their natural functions.

Soil Organic Matter

Compost in California contains approximately 50 percent organic matter, and of that, approximately 25 percent is carbon. Although plants generally consume carbon from the air, compost carbon nourishes soil microorganisms. Organic matter is composed of the remains of organisms, such as plants and animals and their waste products. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N) is a common index used for assessing feedstock and the maturity of any given compost. C:N ratios in finished compost range from 12:1 to 20:1 but are ideally between 14:1 and 18:1.

Compost increases organic matter in soils, which tend to be deficient in organic matter. Soil structure-the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and the pore space between them-is critical to how the soil functions. Organic matter causes soil to clump and form soil aggregates, which improves soil structure. With better soil structure, permeability (infiltration of water through the soil) improves, in turn improving the soil's ability to take up and hold water. When the solid parts-sand, silt and clay particles-cling together as coarse, granular aggregates, the soil has a good balance of solid parts and pore space. Soil organic matter also helps develop stable soil aggregates. Fungi and bacteria produce organic glues as they decompose plant residues. Fungi fed with organic matter secrete a gooey protein called glomalin, an effective short-term cementing agent for large aggregates. Water-resistant substances produced by microorganisms, roots, and other organic matter provide long-term aggregate stability from a few months to a few years.

Soil, especially healthy soil, is full of life. Millions of species and billions of organisms make up a complex and diverse mix of microscopic and macroscopic life that represents the greatest concentration of biomass anywhere on the planet. Bacteria, algae, microscopic insects, earthworms, beetles, ants, mites, and fungi are among them.

According to the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service:

Consider bacteria, the soil microbes with the highest numbers, for example: you can fit 40 million of them on the end of one pin. In fact, there are more soil microorganisms (microbes for short) in a teaspoonful of soil than there are people on the earth. These microbes, which make up only one-half of one percent of the total soil mass, are the yeasts, algae, protozoa, bacteria, nematodes, and fungi that process soil into rich, dark, stable humus. Like other living creatures, the organisms in the soil also need food and shelter. Some feed on dead organic matter, and some eat other microbes. As a group, they cycle nutrients, build the soil and give it structure.

What do Soil Organisms Do?

Bacteria: Feed on organic matter, store and cycle nitrogen, and decompose pesticides.

Fungi: Up to 3,000 species of fungi are in the soil. Some feed on dead organic matter like crop residues that are more difficult to break down. Others are parasites that attack other microbes. Some fan out from the root to get more nutrients and hold more water for the plant, delivering nutrients to the plant in exchange for carbon.

Protozoa: Eat bacteria, fungi, and algae. When they eat bacteria, their main food source, they unlock and slowly release nitrogen into the soil environment. They convert organic nitrogen to inorganic nitrogen that is available to plants.

Mites: Decompose and shred organic matter as an important part of the nitrogen cycle.

Nematodes: These microscopic worms are an important part of the nitrogen cycle. Most are non-pathogenic and do not cause disease. They eat other organisms in the soil.

Earthworms: Expel partially decomposed organic matter, produce nutrient-rich casts, and create lubricated tunnels that aid soil structure and water movement in the soil.

Soil Physical Properties

Compost use improves soil physical properties, including increasing water infiltration rate, increasing soil aggregation and stability, and decreasing soil bulk density. Lowering soil bulk density increases water holding capacity (WHC).

For more information contact: Organic Materials, organics@calrecycle.ca.gov

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Soil is a major source of nutrients needed by plants for growth. The three main nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Together they make up the trio known as NPK. Other important nutrients are calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Plants also need small quantities of iron, manganese, zinc, copper, boron and molybdenum, known as trace elements because only traces are needed by the plant. The role these nutrients play in plant growth is complex, and this document provides only a brief outline.

Major elements

Nitrogen (N)

Nitrogen is a key element in plant growth. It is found in all plant cells, in plant proteins and hormones, and in chlorophyll.

Atmospheric nitrogen is a source of soil nitrogen. Some plants such as legumes fix atmospheric nitrogen in their roots; otherwise fertiliser factories use nitrogen from the air to make ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and urea. When applied to soil, nitrogen is converted to mineral form, nitrate, so that plants can take it up.

Soils high in organic matter such as chocolate soils are generally higher in nitrogen than podzolic soils. Nitrate is easily leached out of soil by heavy rain, resulting in soil acidification. You need to apply nitrogen in small amounts often so that plants use all of it, or in organic form such as composted manure, so that leaching is reduced.

Phosphorus (P)

Phosphorus helps transfer energy from sunlight to plants, stimulates early root and plant growth, and hastens maturity.

Very few Australian soils have enough phosphorus for sustained crop and pasture production and the North Coast is no exception. The most common phosphorus source on the North Coast is superphosphate, made from rock phosphate and sulfuric acid. All manures contain phosphorus; manure from grain-fed animals is a particularly rich source.

Potassium (K)

Potassium increases vigour and disease resistance of plants, helps form and move starches, sugars and oils in plants, and can improve fruit quality.

Potassium is low or deficient on many of the sandier soils of the North Coast. Also, heavy potassium removal can occur on soils used for intensive grazing and intensive horticultural crops (such as bananas and custard apples).

Muriate of potash and sulfate of potash are the most common sources of potassium.

Calcium (Ca)

Calcium is essential for root health, growth of new roots and root hairs, and the development of leaves. It is generally in short supply in the North Coast's acid soils. Lime, gypsum, dolomite and superphosphate (a mixture of calcium phosphate and calcium sulfate) all supply calcium. Lime is the cheapest and most suitable option for the North Coast; dolomite is useful for magnesium and calcium deficiencies, but if used over a long period will unbalance the calcium/magnesium ratio. Superphosphate is useful where calcium and phosphorus are needed.

Magnesium (Mg)

Magnesium is a key component of chlorophyll, the green colouring material of plants, and is vital for photosynthesis (the conversion of the sun's energy to food for the plant). Deficiencies occur mainly on sandy acid soils in high rainfall areas, especially if used for intensive horticulture or dairying. Heavy applications of potassium in fertilisers can also produce magnesium deficiency, so banana growers need to watch magnesium levels because bananas are big potassium users.

Magnesium deficiency can be overcome with dolomite (a mixed magnesium-calcium carbonate), magnesite (magnesium oxide) or epsom salts (magnesium sulfate).

Sulfur (S)

Sulfur is a constituent of amino acids in plant proteins and is involved in energy-producing processes in plants. It is responsible for many flavour and odour compounds in plants such as the aroma of onions and cabbage.

Sulfur deficiency is not a problem in soils high in organic matter, but it leaches easily. On the North Coast seaspray is a major source of atmospheric sulfur. Superphosphate, gypsum, elemental sulfur and sulfate of ammonia are the main fertiliser sources.

Trace elements

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Soil is a major source of nutrients needed by plants for growth. The three main nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Together they make up the trio known as NPK. Other important nutrients are calcium, magnesium and sulfur.

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Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District

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Why Healthy Soil Is a Priority

Soil is more than just a medium for growing your plants - it has a life of its own! Each scoop of soil contains millions of microbes that keep the tiny ecosystem functioning, which is essential for growing food and creating living landscapes. When we think about soil as a living system, we can better understand how its health can change based on how we treat it.

Soil health plays a major role in the health of all living organisms. We need to care for the soil in our landscapes, just as we care for plants, animals, and other humans, for it to function properly. It is important to consider ways to protect and boost your soil when planning for your farm, landscape, garden, or flower bed.

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On this page: Why Healthy Soil is a Priority Soil is Alive! What is soil made of? How do we assess soil health? What are the best ways to keep soil

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Plant Diversity

What is plant diversity and why is it important in a Mississippi Smart Landscape? Plant diversity, also called biodiversity, is critical to the health of an ecosystem. In a biodiverse ecosystem, each organism plays an important role and helps regulate natural processes and growth cycles. That means that if one part of a natural environment becomes too dominant, another part will bring balance back to the system. The diversity of plant life exists for many reasons, one being adaptive change. When a plant is used in a landscape, it provides a variety of ecological services, including shade, wildlife habitat, clean water, healthy soil, and clean air. If we only use a small variety of plants and those plant types become sick or are attacked by a pest, the landscape will take a long time to recover.

MSU Extension Service Publications

Additional Resources

The Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Handbook
Chapter 1: page 5-14
http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/materials/FYN_Handbook_2015_web.pdf

Alabama Smart Yards Handbook
Chapter #8 pg 41-28
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1359/ANR-1359.pdf

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What is plant diversity and why is it important in a Mississippi Smart Landscape? Plant diversity, also called biodiversity, is critical to the health of an ecosystem. In a biodiverse ecosystem, each organism plays an important role and helps regulate natural processes and growth cycles.

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Six tips for healthy soil in your garden

Test your soil.

Add organic matter.

Incorporate compost to compacted soil to increase air, water and nutrients for plants.

Protect topsoil with mulch or cover crops.

Don't use chemicals unless there's no alternative.

Rotate crops.

Soil is so much more than dirt. Soil is a living ecosystem-a large community of living organisms linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

Every teaspoon of soil is home to billions of microorganisms-bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, and earthworms that play important roles.

Bacteria and fungi break down dead plant and animal tissue which become nutrients for plants.

Nematodes eat plant material and other soil organisms, releasing plant nutrients in their waste.

Specialized mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationships with plants. The fungi bring hard-to-reach nutrients and water directly to plant roots, and the plants provide the fungi with carbohydrates.

Worms and insects shred and chew organic material into smaller bits bacteria and fungi can easily access.

Garden earthworms burrow and create pathways in soil that fill with air and water for plant roots.
However, they are not native to Minnesota. To prevent spreading them into forested areas, don't dump fishing bait or move soil with earthworms.

A healthy soil ecosystem provides plants with easy access to air, water, and nutrients. Here are six tips for achieving optimum soil health in your garden:

Test your soil

Understanding your soil is the first step to creating an optimum soil ecosystem. Submit a sample of your garden soil to the University of Minnesota Soil Testing Lab, located on the St. Paul campus.

Your soil test results will include information about soil texture, pH, nutrients, and organic matter, and provide fertilizer recommendations for the plants you plan to grow.

Add organic matter

Organic matter improves soil physical properties such as air and water availability, allowing for healthy root growth.

Organic matter is composed of living plant roots and organisms, decomposing plant and animal residue in varying stages of decay, and enzymes secreted by soil organisms that act like glue to bind soil particles.

As soil organisms like fungi and bacteria break down plant and animal parts, nutrients become available to plants. The plants, in turn, feed the soil organisms with their remains.

Highly decomposed plant material is called humus, a stable and important source of plant nutrients great for growing plants.

Like us, plants need a variety of nutrients for optimum health.

There are 17 essential nutrients all plants need to grow.

Macronutrients are needed in larger quantities:

Carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen come from air and water.

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium come from fertilizer and organic matter; phosphorus and potassium also come from weathering of soil particles.

Calcium, sulfur and magnesium are usually sufficient in Minnesota soils unless the soil is very sandy.

Micronutrients are needed in small quantities: iron, manganese, molybdenum, chlorine, boron, copper, and zinc; these are also usually sufficient in Minnesota soils.

A soil test can tell you what nutrients your soil is lacking.

Organic matter such as compost can be a source of macronutrients like nitrogen, as well as micronutrients such as manganese and zinc.

Provide air and water

Plant roots and microbes need access to varying amounts of air and water for optimum growth. Fortunately, soil is full of microenvironments-tiny habitats that differ in the amount of available air, water and nutrients.

Soil compaction and disturbance such as excessive tillage can eliminate these important microenvironments. This makes it hard for plant roots to penetrate the soil, absorb water and nutrients, and interact with beneficial microbes.

Disturbing soil also disturbs weed seeds, exposing them to light and increasing germination-in other words, more weeds!

To minimize compaction and provide an optimal growing environment:

Use designated walking paths through planting beds to avoid compacting soil around plant roots. Some design options include:

Plant in raised beds.

Beds no wider than 4 feet that allow you to reach across.

Free-standing beds with access on all sides.

To reduce or eliminate tilling consider using hand tools to prepare garden beds.

Incorporate compost into compacted soil to increase air, water and nutrients for plants.

Flowers and vegetables: incorporate 1 to 2 inches of compost 6 to 8 inches deep.

Before planting trees and shrubs, incorporate 4 inches of compost 12 inches deep.

Keep it covered

The top few inches of soil contain an abundance of microorganisms, organic matter and soil nutrients.

Mulch or cover crops can be used to protect valuable topsoil from erosion and to add rich organic matter as they decompose.

Raindrops landing on bare soil can splash soil particles several feet into the air.

Mulching bare soil around plants prevents the splashing of soil particles and soil-borne pathogens onto leaves and stems, reducing the occurrence of disease.

Mulch and cover crops conserve soil moisture, minimize weeds, and reduce plant stress by moderating soil temperatures.

Minimize chemical use

Pesticides kill pests, but they also can kill beneficial soil microbes and insects.

Before reaching for a chemical:

Always consider alternatives to pesticides first, and low-impact pesticides like horticultural oils, insecticidal soap, spinosad, and Bt (Bacillus thurgiensis)

Choose disease-resistant plant varieties and plants that will grow well on your site.

Hand-pick larger bugs, such as Japanese beetles, from plants, and drop them in soapy water to kill them.

Use a blast of water from your garden hose to knock insects off plants.

Use physical barriers like row covers, bags on apples, or fences to keep out larger critters.

Plant damage from insects and diseases is often cosmetic and not necessarily life-threatening. Visit the What's wrong with my plant tool to find out what diseases or insects may be affecting your plants and how to best treat them.

Rotate crops

While most microbes are beneficial to plants, disease-causing microbes may overwinter in soil and plant litter. These pathogens prefer to infest and feed on certain plants. Planting the same crop in the same soil year after year can increase diseases.

Rotating your crops:

Reduces disease-causing pathogens by eliminating their food source.

Prevents nutrient depletion.

Plants with long roots, like carrots, absorb nutrients deeper in the soil.

Shallow-rooted onions absorb nutrients in the top few inches of soil.

Legumes, such as beans and peas, add nutrients back into soil.

Add nitrogen to the soil by forming a mutual relationship with rhizobia, root-inhabiting bacteria that take nitrogen from the air and convert it into a plant-available form.

When the legumes die, the nitrogen then becomes available to other plants in the rotation.

Rotation guidelines

Crop rotation is usually based on plant families. Plants in the same family are often susceptible to similar pests and diseases and tend to have comparable nutrient and cultural requirements.

For example, rotate crops from the cabbage family with crops from the sunflower family, or rotate crops from the squash family with crops from the grass family.

Other families, such as carrot or goosefoot, can be used to fill in the rotation wherever necessary.

If you don't have the planting space to rotate crops, combine different plant families so that there is a diversity of crops in your vegetable garden.

Plant families

Carrot family (Apiaceae): carrot, parsnip, parsley, celery, celeriac, dill, chervil, cilantro, fennel

Sunflower family (Asteraceae): sunflower, lettuce, endive, escarole, Jerusalem artichoke, artichoke, chamomile, tarragon, echinacea

Cabbage family (Brassicaceae): cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnip, radish, kale, collards, rutabaga, watercress, horseradish

Goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae): beet, chard, spinach

Gourd family (Cucurbitaceae): cucumber, melon, summer squash, winter squash, pumpkin, gourd

Legume family (Fabaceae): bean, pea, cowpea, lentil

Mint family (Lamiaceae): basil, lavender, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint

Onion family (Liliaceae): onion, scallion, garlic, leek, shallot, chive, asparagus

Grass family (Poaceae): corn, sorghum, wheat, oats, barley

Nightshade family (Solanaceae): potato, tomato, tomatillo, pepper (hot and sweet), eggplant

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The choices you make in your garden affect soil health. Learn the steps to take to have healthy soil and a healthy garden.

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https://www.nacdnet.org/news-and-events/stewardship-week/2022-healthy-soil-healthy-life/https://www.nacdnet.org/news-and-events/stewardship-week/2022-healthy-soil-healthy-life/https://www.nacdnet.org/news-and-events/stewardship-week/2022-healthy-soil-healthy-life/

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NACD's 67th Stewardship Week was April 24 - May 1, 2022

The NACD Stewardship and Education Committee is pleased to announce the 2022 Poster Contest and Stewardship Week theme: "Healthy Soil, Healthy Life"

Healthy soils are the foundation for all life on Earth. Soil is an important resource for everything from human health to agriculture to water filtration. The imperative benefit of healthy soil is food production. Healthy soils also give us clean air and water, plentiful crops and forests, diverse wildlife and beautiful landscapes. It is important that each of us recognize where our food comes and the farmers and ranchers who are dedicated to using responsible land-management practices to ensure a sustainable food supply and healthy land and soil for future generations.

Contact your local conservation district to learn more about how you can help promote soil health in your community.

Rules, entry forms and other resources for the 2022 NACD Poster Contest are available on the contests page. The 67th Annual Stewardship Week will take place Apr. 24 - May 1, 2022. Please use the 2022 stewardship materials for educational purposes only.

Click here to access all of our free educational materials available for download.
Printing booklets at your home or office? Visit this blog for a step-by-step guide.
Booklets are available for free download here for the following levels:

Educator's Guide | PDF|

Field Day Curriculum Guide | PDF|

Bookmark | PDF|

Placemat | PDF|

Liturgical Materials | PDF|

Additional Resources

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The NACD Stewardship and Education Committee is pleased to announce the 2022 Poster Contest and Stewardship Week theme: "Healthy Soil, Healthy Life" Healthy soils are the foundation for all life on Earth. Soil is an important resource for everything from human health to agriculture to water filtration.

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Soil is not an inert growing medium - it is a living and life-giving natural resource. It is teaming with billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that are the foundation of an elegant symbiotic ecosystem.

How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

Step 2: Start an Application

Step 3: Check your eligibility

Step 4: Rank your application

Step 5: Implement your plan

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| Natural Resources Conservation Service

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PLANT NUTRIENTS IN THE SOIL - Lucia Forner

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PLANT NUTRIENTS IN THE SOIL - Lucia Forner

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Soil is a major source of nutrients needed by plants for growth. The three main nutrients are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Together they make up the trio known as NPK. Other important nutrients are calcium, magnesium and sulfur. Plants also need small quantities of iron, manganese…

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Healthy soil is that which allows plants to grow to their maximum productivity without disease or pests and without a need for off-farm supplements.

Healthy soil is teeming with bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, nematodes, and other tiny creatures. Those organisms play an important role in plant health.

Soil bacteria produce natural antibiotics that help plants resist disease. Fungi assist plants in absorbing water and nutrients. Together, these bacteria and fungi are known as "organic matter." The more organic matter in a sample of soil, the healthier that soil is.

To determine if soil is healthy, farmers and scientists measure several factors. How many microorganisms are present? How many nutrients-nitrogen, for example-are in the soil? How well does the soil retain water during drought? How much carbon can the soil sequester from the atmosphere?

At Rodale Institute, our scientists collect soil samples in the field. Back in the lab, they dry and weigh the samples before analysis. Our research has shown that while conventional systems erode and deplete soils, organic systems improve and build the soil over time.

Why does it matter?

Healthy soil contains aggregates that help it bind together, preventing erosion and run-off. It can hold more water, so plants fare better in drought. It contains more bacteria and fungi that help plants fight diseases and pests. And healthy soil also contains more minerals and nutrients that feed plants.

Healthy soil is the foundation of our global food system, but currently, it's at risk. The United Nations reports that using current practices, we have fewer than 60 years of farmable topsoil remaining.

Every organic farming practice contributes to healthy, resilient soil that can support abundant life both below and above ground, making organic farming a powerful tool for soil conservation.

Make a Difference

Every day, you can take action to help save the world's soils.

Here's How

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A thriving organic farming system starts with healthy, organic soil. Rodale Institute is a leader in soil studies and soil conservation. Read our extensive research on soil health and fertility.

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The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Soil is not an inert growing medium - it is a living and life-giving natural resource. It is teaming with billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that are the foundation of an elegant symbiotic ecosystem.

How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

Step 2: Start an Application

Step 3: Check your eligibility

Step 4: Rank your application

Step 5: Implement your plan

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| Natural Resources Conservation Service

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What are bacteria?

Bacteria are microscopic living organisms that have only one cell. The word for just one is "bacterium." Millions (if not billions) of different types of bacteria can be found all over the world, including in your body. They're on your skin and in your airways and mouth. They're also in your digestive system, reproductive system and urinary tract. Scientists estimate you have 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells in your body.

What are the benefits of bacteria?

Most types of bacteria aren't harmful. Some are even good for you. These helpful bacteria are mainly located on your skin or in your gut or digestive system. They're called resident flora, or your microbiome, which are groups of microbes living in and on your body. Gut bacteria keep you healthy by absorbing nutrients, breaking down food and preventing the growth of harmful bacteria.

What are the risks of bacteria?

Most bacteria are harmless, but certain types can make you sick. These bacteria are a type of pathogen. Pathogens are microorganisms that can cause disease. They can reproduce quickly in your body and give off poisons (toxins) that can cause infection. Harmful bacteria examples include:

These bacteria are the most common germs responsible for septicemia, or blood poisoning. This infection occurs when bacteria enter your bloodstream. Bacteria in blood can spread and lead to sepsis. Sepsis is a systemic overreaction to widespread infection in your body.

Other examples of pathogenic bacteria include:

Aerococcus urinae: Bacteria in urine that cause urinary tract infections.

Chlamydia trachomatis: Bacteria that cause a sexually transmitted infection (STI) called chlamydia.

Bordetella pertussis: Bacteria that cause whooping cough.

Antibiotics can treat most types of bacterial infections. However, the more you take an antibiotic, the greater the chances your body will become resistant to it. Bacterial resistance is also more likely if you don't finish or take your antibiotics as prescribed.

What are the different types of bacteria?

Scientists classify and define bacteria in several ways.

Scientific name

One way scientists classify bacteria is by their scientific name. The scientific name includes their genus - based on the characteristics of the bacteria - and within the genus, their species. For example, " Clostridium botulinum" is the scientific name for the bacterium that causes botulism. Within a species, scientists may discover different types, or strains, of a bacterium.

One way scientists classify bacteria is by their shape.
Bacteria shapes

Another way scientists classify bacteria is by their shape. There are three basic bacterial shapes:

Spheres or ball-shaped (cocci bacteria).

Rod-shaped bacteria (bacilli).

Spirals or helixes (spirochetes).

Need for oxygen

Scientists also classify bacteria based on their need for oxygen to live and grow. Bacteria that need oxygen are called aerobes. Bacteria that can't live or grow when oxygen is around are called anaerobes. Certain bacteria can live and grow with or without oxygen. These are called facultative bacteria.

Genetic makeup

Another way scientists classify bacteria is by their genetic makeup. Each bacterium contains a different genetic makeup. This is called their genotype. Specialized tests can determine the differences in each bacterium's genotype.

Staining

Scientists classify bacteria by the color they turn after they apply special chemicals (stains) to them. One common staining process is called Gram staining. Bacteria may be classified as gram-positive or gram-negative. Gram staining also helps guide treatment because gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria respond differently to certain types of antibiotics.

What are gram-positive bacteria?

Scientists classify bacteria as gram-positive or gram-negative based on which color they turn under a Gram stain. They stain differently because their cell walls are different. "Positive" and "negative" don't mean "good" or "bad." Gram-positive bacteria look blue to purple under a Gram stain. Examples of gram-positive bacteria include:

What are gram-negative bacteria?

Gram-negative bacteria look red to pink under a Gram stain. They cause different types of infections than gram-positive bacteria. They also need different types of antibiotics to treat them. Examples of gram-negative bacteria include:

Bacteria vs. viruses - what's the difference?

Bacteria and viruses are different kinds of germs, or microorganisms. Both can cause infections that may result in similar symptoms. However, bacterial infections and viral infections require different methods of treatment. Healthcare providers may use antibiotics to treat some bacterial infections. But antibiotics won't work on viruses. Providers may treat some viruses with antivirals, but antivirals won't treat infections caused by bacteria.

What are antibiotic-resistant bacteria?

Your immune system can fight off some bacteria, but in other cases, you may need an antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection. Antibiotics work by destroying a bacterium's cell wall or DNA.

Overuse of antibiotics can sometimes lead to problems over time. This is because some bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics, making it hard to treat infections caused by new strains. Each time you take an antibiotic, you increase your chances that the bacteria will learn to resist it. An example of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

How do bacteria reproduce?

Most bacteria reproduce through binary fission. This means that each bacterium cell duplicates its DNA and then divides into two parts, with each new cell receiving one copy of DNA.

Are bacteria prokaryotic or eukaryotic?

Bacteria don't have a nucleus, so they're classified as prokaryotes. They're microbes with a very simple cell structure. Bacteria have cell walls. Within the cell walls, a bacteria diagram would show the structure of each cell. Each bacterium contains cytoplasm, ribosomes and DNA. Outside the cell wall, one or more bacteria flagella help the bacterium move.

What are plastic-eating bacteria?

In 2016, scientists in Osaka, Japan, discovered a species of bacteria called Ideonella sakaiensis. It was eating its way through plastic bottles outside a recycling facility.

Bacteria usually consume dead organic matter, but this bacterium was eating a type of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Plastic bottles are commonly made with PET. The scientists studied the bacterium and found it produced two digestive enzymes that decompose the plastic.

The enzymes only decompose PET plastic, but scientists hope that one day this type of plastic-eating bacteria could help tackle the world's plastic pollution problem.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
There are thousands of different types of bacteria. Most types of bacteria aren't harmful; many are even helpful. They make up your microbiome, which keeps your gut healthy. Other bacteria, called pathogens, can cause infections that require treatment. Healthcare providers can prescribe antibiotics to treat many of these infections. Always take antibiotics as directed.

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Bacteria: Definition, Types, Benefits, Risks & Examples

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Bacteria are microscopic living organisms that have only one cell. Most bacteria aren't harmful, but certain types can make you sick.

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https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/Healthy-Soils-Are-full-of-life.pdf

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Skip to main content

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Soil is not an inert growing medium - it is a living and life-giving natural resource. It is teaming with billions of bacteria, fungi, and other microbes that are the foundation of an elegant symbiotic ecosystem.

How to Get Assistance
Do you farm or ranch and want to make improvements to the land that you own or lease?
Natural Resources Conservation Service offers technical and financial assistance to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

Step 2: Start an Application

Step 3: Check your eligibility

Step 4: Rank your application

Step 5: Implement your plan

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| Natural Resources Conservation Service

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https://www.ntmwd.com/healthy-soil-healthy-life/

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The North Texas Municipal Water District has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB), Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and Texas Wildlife Association along with over twenty other organizations across the state in a campaign to highlight the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas. Soil and Water Stewardship Week is April 24 through May 1, 2022, and the focus this year is " Healthy Soil, Healthy Life."

The basis of our lives begins with the soil beneath our feet. Soil provides the food on our plates, the clothes on our backs, the foundation for our homes and offices, the luscious grass that the children play in and the trees we need to breathe. It all starts with soil...healthy soil, healthy life. ( Download printable flyer)

Healthy soil gives us life through providing clean air and water, ample crops and forests, productive grazing lands, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Soil does this by providing five essential functions:

Water Management - Soil helps control where rain, snowmelt, and irrigation water goes. Water and dissolved solutes flow over the land or into and through the soil.

Sustaining Plant and Animal Life - The diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil.

Filtering and Buffering Potential Pollutants - The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials.

Cycling Nutrients - Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and many other nutrients are stored, transformed, and cycled in the soil.

Physical Stability and Support - Soil structure provides a medium for plant roots as well as provides support for human structures and protection for archeological treasures.

Since 1939, the TSSWCB and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) across Texas have been working to encourage the wise and productive use of natural resources. It is our goal to ensure the availability of those resources for future generations, so that all Texans' present and future needs can be met in a manner that promotes a clean, healthy environment and strong economic growth.

Your local SWCD can work with you to develop a conservation plan for your farm, ranch, or forest to improve soil health and provide resources on responsible natural resource management. Conservation plans can be tailored to the needs of each individual landowner including crop rotation, wildlife habitat enhancement, forest management, nutrient management, pest management, irrigation system efficiency and erosion control measures.

As the population of the state continues to increase, maintaining the productivity of our soil and water resources becomes increasingly vital in meeting the food, fiber and resource needs for all Texans. TSSWCB and SWCDs are committed to working with farmers, ranchers, and private landowners to conserve and protect the natural resources of Texas.

Partnering organizations in the "Healthy Soil, Healthy Life" campaign includes Agriculture Teachers Association of Texas, AgriLife Extension, Association of Rural Communities of Texas, Ducks Unlimited, Farmhouse Vineyards, North Texas Municipal Water District, Plains Cotton Growers, Texan by Nature, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas Association of Dairymen, Texas Conservation Association for Soil and Water, Texas Corn Producers, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Grain & Feed Association, Texas Poultry Association, Texas Wheat, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas Watershed Steward Program, Upper Trinity Conservation Trust, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Water Grows.

For more information on "Healthy Soil, Healthy Life", please visit www.tsswcb.texas.gov.

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NTMWD Shares Healthy Soil Healthy Life Message for Soil and Water Stewardship Week - North Texas Municipal Water District

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The North Texas Municipal Water District has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB), Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and Texas Wildlife Association along with over twenty other organizations across the state in a campaign to highlight the importance of voluntary landNTMWD Shares Healthy Soil Healthy Life Message for Soil and Water Stewardship Week...

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How Healthy Soil Makes for a Healthy Life

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The Lakota Native American people of the Dakotas have a saying: Mitakuye Oyasin, which translates to "all are related." They aren't just referring to humans, or even to just animals. Instead, this concept speaks to a deep, underlying interconnectivity among everything from plants to animals, from people to the smallest speck of dirt.