SUBJECT: Plant Ecology-I

Semester: VI, BS Botany

Teacher Name: Dr. Khalid Rasheed Khan

Department of Botany
Government College Mansehra
Lecture No.03
Soil structure
SOIL STRUCTURE
• Soil structure is the arrangement of soil particles into groupings. These
groupings are called peds or aggregates, which often form distinctive
shapes typically found within certain soil horizons.

• The arrangement of individual soil particles into different size units or

peds is called soil structure.
• Microbes, plants, and animals produce cementing agents that bind
and stabilize the soil into units.

• Soil structure forms when individual grains of sand, silt, and clay are
bound together physically and/or chemically.
Types of soil structure
Granular: Roughly spherical, 1-10mm in diameter, most common in A horizon
Platy: Flat peds lies horizontally in the soil, less then 2 cm thick, platy structure
is not most common
Blocky: Roughly cube shaped with flat surface, 5-50 mm in size,2 types,
1.annugular: has sharp edges
2.subangular: rounded edges

Prismatic: Peds are taller then wide, size 10-100mm,found in B and C horizon

;
 Importance of Soil Structure
• Structure creates relatively large pores, which favor water entry into
and movement within the soil. Even clayey soils, which tend to have
tiny pores, can have good rates of water infiltration if they have a
well-developed A horizon structure.
• Good soil structure also means good aeration and a favorable
balance between pores that contain air and pores that store water for
plant use.
• Soils with good structure are easy to till and provide ideal
environments for plant root growth.
Thank you