Definitions and Trivia in Soil Science Flashcards
Refers to the quality of a soil that enables it to provide essential chemical elements in quantities and proportions for the growth of specified plants.
Soil fertility
Refers to the capacity of a soil for producing a specified plant or sequence of plants under a specified system of management.
Soil productivity
The most fertile part of a soil profile.
Topsoil
Was a Greek historian who first recorded the merits of green manure crops.
Xenophon
In what age were the following discovered:
o Manure increased productivity ad prolonged land use - the green manure crops (i.e., legumes) enriched the soil,
o Liming increased productivity,
o Wood ashes and salt peter (KNO3) are beneficial, and
o Saline soils can be detected by taste.
Golden Age of Greeks
In the 13th century A.D., this Roman, published a book on agricultural practices (horticulture and agronomy)
Pietro de Crescenzi
He performed the Willow Tree Experiment in which he concluded that the Willow tree grew by drinking water and water was the sole nutrient of plants.
Jan Baptista Van Helmont
He thought soil small particles were ingested by plants. He concluded that cultivating the soil made it easier for plants to take up soil particles.
Jethro Tull
He is the father of the modern fertilizer industry.
Justus Von Liebig
This states “If one of the essential nutrients is deficient, growth will be poor even if all other elements are abundant”.
Liebig’s Law of Minimum
He established the experimental garden of bluffs of Savannah River in Georgia to produce exotic food crops during 1733.
James E. Oglethorpe
He demonstrated the value of gypsum which improves soil physical and chemical properties.
Benjamin Franklin
Who wrote “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.”
Thomas Jefferson
He is the Father of Soil Chemistry in the US.
Edmund Ruffin
Number of nutrient elements that are considered essential for plant growth.
18
It is a process in which nutrient enters the cellular material of the plant following same pathway as water.
Plant nutrient uptake
The three mechanisms of plant nutrient uptake are…
mass flow, diffusion, and root
interception.
This happens when water absorbed by the root creates a water deficit near the root this will in turn create more water movement to the root carrying nutrients.
Mass flow
refers to the movement of nutrients due to an imbalance of concentration or diffusion gradient, i.e., movement of nutrients from higher concentration to lower concentration.
Diffusion
Also known as contact exchange which happens upon exposure of the roots to the soil and new supplies of nutrients. The roots could contact 3% of the soil nutrients.
root interception
An equation which can describe nutrient uptake is the _______?
Mitscherlich’s equation
Mitscherlich’s equation formula?
DY/DX = (A-Y)c
where: DY = increase in yield
DX = increase in input
A = maximum possible yield
Y = actual yield
c= constant depending on the nature of x
________ saves the soil through harsh weather and stops erosion.
Soil conservation
Nitrogen is being supplied to the plants through _________ and when lightning converts it to NO3-.
biological nitrogen fixation
Potassium can be found in minerals like _________ which contains 90% of soil K.
feldspars and micas
