CHAPTER 2 The Soil Environment ‘The term soil refers to the loose material of the earth's surface. Soil provides me- chanical support and nutrients for plant and microbial growth. Fertile soils, those that support abundant production of food and fiber, are characterized by both the presence of nutrients and a physical structure amenable to living organisms. A broad range of microorganisms (bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae, and proto- zoa) are nearly always present in soil, although population densities vary widely. The surface of soil granules is the site of many of the biochemical reactions that take place in the cycling of organic matter, nitrogen, and other minerals; in the weathering of rocks; and in the nutrition of plants (Alexander, 1991). Physical and chemical properties of soils have a profound influence on aera- tion, nutrient availability, and water retention and thus on biological activity. The most important of these properties are particle size, porosity, moisture content, aeration status, chemical composition, clay fraction, cation-exchange capacity, and organic fraction. Particle size affects the surface chemistry of soils and the size of the pores. The amount of pore space depends on the texture, structure, and organic content of the soil. In clay soils, where particle size is of the order of micrometers, smaller pore sizes dominate while in sandy soils pores are larger but the total quantity of pores is less. Water moves more quickly through large pores, but little is retained and therefore coarse soils drain rapidly. Plant and microbial growth re- quires water and thus an optimal pore structure exists in which water is retained but a significant fraction of the pores remain filled with air. SOIL MAKEUP ‘The soil matrix is made up of five major components: minerals, air, water, organic material, and living organisms. Mineral materials are the principal structural com- ponents of soils and make up over 50 percent of the total volume. Air and water 2Btogether make up the pore volume, which usually occupies 25 to 50 percent of the total volume. The relative proportion of air to water fluctuates considerably with the moisture content of the soil. Organic material takes up between 3 and 6 per- cent of the volume on average, while living organisms occupy less than 1 percent. Two principal processes are responsible for soil formation over time: weather- ing and breakdown of rocks and parent minerals, and colonization and activity of plants and microorganisms. In the early stages of formation, microbial activity is scarce, principally owing to the deficiency of carbon and nitrogen. The initiation of living processes in soil is dependent on the presence of organisms capable of carbon dioxide and nitrogen fixation. Such organisms almost always use light as their energy source, and for this reason colonization of new soils takes place near the surface. Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. are one of a few groups of microorganisms capable of both photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation and are nearly always among the first groups of microorganisms observed on newly formed soils. Products of microbial metabolism include complex organics and mineral nutrients required for the growth of more fastidious microorganisms, plants, and animals. Thus the initial colonization of soil by Cyanobacteria and other microorganisms leads to the establishment of higher vegetation. When plants die, chemoheterotrophic microorganisms break down the tissue. Much of the tis- sue is biochemically transformed into a stable organic matrix known as humus, and over time accumulation of humus builds up the organic fraction of the soil. The Mineral Fraction The dominant mineral in soil is silicon dioxide (SiO). Aluminum and iron are also plentiful, while calcium, magnesium, potassium, titanium, manganese, sodium, ni- trogen, phosphorus, and sulfur are present in lesser amounts (Alexander, 1991) Chemical composition varies greatly between soils and at different depths within the same soil. Microorganisms obtain a portion of their required nutrients from the mineral portion of soil, and consideration must be given to its chemical compo: tion. Nutrients required by microorganisms include nitrogen, phosphorus, potas- sium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, calcium, manganese, zinc, copper, and molybde- num. However, only a small fraction of soil minerals are readily available to microorganisms. In general, the nitrogen, phosphorus, and trace minerals of a soil represent a slowly utilized reservoir rather than a readily available supply. Soils are classified by particle size, with the three main components being clay, silt, and sand. Size classification is commonly based on sieve analysis using a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) system. Clays pass a 0.002-mm (2-\tm) sieve, silts are retained on a 0.002-mm sieve but pass a 0.05-mm sieve, and sands are retained on a 0.05-mm sieve but pass a 2-mm sieve. Particles retained on a 2- mm sieve are classified as gravel or stones. The unit surface area (area/volume) of the particle types directly impacts the chemical, physical, and biological properties of the soil (Table 2.1). Clay exerts the most influence on the properties of soil, primarily because of the high surface activity. Most clay particles are colloidal in nature, carry a net negative surface charge, and have flat platelike shapes. Clays are good absorbents of water, ions, and gases. Larger particles, such as sand, do not possess the same level of surfaceTABLE 2.1 Classification of soil particles Particle type Diameter, mm Sand Fine gravel 10-20 ia Coarse sand 05-10 23 Medium sand 025-05 45 Fine sand 0.1-0.25 94 + Very fine sand 0.05-0.1 27 silt 0.002-0.05 45.4 Clay << 0.002 1,130 Source: Milla ta, 1958, activity. The principal effects associated with sand are related to soil pore size and hence the movement of air and water in soil. Sand does not greatly influence the chemical and biological properties of the soil. The presence of surfaces in soil which strongly adsorb certain classes of com- pounds may reduce the availability of organic compounds for biodegradation. An- other factor influencing the availability of nutrients is the cation-exchange capac- ity of the soil. Clay minerals and organic materials possessing sites of negative electrical surface charge attract positively charged ions such as NHs*, K*, Na‘, Ca®, and Mg**. As a result, ammonium, for example, which is positively charged, is less available for immediate use by plants and microorganisms and is retained longer in the soil than nitrate, its oxidized and negatively charged counterpart. Soil Organic Matter The organic fraction of the soil is made up of plant and animal debris, microbial cells, and products of microbial metabolism, and is often referred to simply as humus. The term humus refers to organic material that has undergone enough degradation and transformation to make the parent material unrecognizable (Atlas and Bartha, 1987), Humus is largely composed of polymerized substances: aromatics, polysaccharides, amino acids, uronic acid polymers, and phosphorus- containing compounds (Alexander, 1991). The amount of humus in soil is greatly influenced by agricultural activities. Humus rarely exceeds 10 percent by weight of mineral soils. In highly organic soils such as peat, however, humus can be as high as 90 percent of the soil weight. Humus is a complex mixture of a large variety of ill-defined compounds with molecular weights ranging between 700 and 300,000. Much of the organic matter in soil, particularly humus, is only slightly soluble in water and somewhat resistant to biodegradation. Based on their solubility characteristics, humic substances are divided into humic acid, fulvic acid, and humin. Experimentally, the three compo- nents are differentiated by the fact that humic acid is extractable with alkali but precipitated with acid; fulvic acid is extractable with alkali but soluble in acid, while humin is not extractable with alkali (Gray and Williams, 1971). The chemi- cal structure of the three components is unknown, or perhaps is better described as 25 CHAPTER 2 ‘The Soil Environment