Abiotic Soil Flashcards
What provides a medium of growth for the vegetation that is the backbone of most biomass?
Substratum
What provides complex microhabitat for multitude of interstitial meiofauna and/or subterranean burrowers?
Substratum
What is the major component of substrate?
Soil
What is a simple process of measuring the mass of a sample and then dividing it by it’s volume?
Measuring Soil Density
What is the units for soil density?
grams per milliliter or kilograms per liter
What is the formula for density?
Density = Weight/Volume
What measurement involves the principle of water displacement?
Measuring soil air content
How to calculate the volume of water transferred to the soil sample?
100 mL - volume of water left
What is the equivalence of volume of water in soil?
volume of air
How to calculate air-soil ratio?
Volume of Air/100 mL
How to calculate percentage of air in sample?
Air-Soil Ratio x 100
What are the four main inorganic components of soil?
- Gravel
- Sand
- Silt
- Clay
How to calculate sand percentage?
Height of Sand Layer/Total Height
How to calculate silt percentage?
Height of Silt Layer/Total Height
How to calculate clay percentage?
Height of Clay Layer/Total Height
