Soils Exam 3 Flashcards
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What happens as the biomass of organisms goes down?
The abundance of them goes up
Functional Diversity
Utilize a wide variety of substrates and carry out many processes
Functional Redundancy
Multiplke species being able to carry out the same function
Ecosystem stabability
Soil having several ways to accomplish the same function BY FUNCTIONAL REDUNDANCY
Macroorganisms
Greather than 2mm
Mesoorgannisms
2-.1mm
Microorganisms
Less than .1mm
Annelids
Earthworms
Helminths
Nematodes
Largets biomass in soil
Fungi
Actinomcytes
Long strainds and function like fungi but relates to bacteria
Protozoa
Mobile single celled and karger than bacteria
What is a midden and its function
An eathworm cast that improves soil physical properties
What microorganism helps soil horizontally
Ants
What helps soil veritcally
Termites
H?ow do nematodes benefit and harm soil
They release N from bacteria, but they also bite plant roots to infection
What is the function of Protozoa?
They eat Bacteria to release nutrientrs
What are the 3 broad groups of fungi?
Yeast Mold Mushroom
What separates bacteria from fungi and actinomycetes
Bacteria breaks down material in more anaerobic environments and less complex ,molecules
Whyat is a commonesalist
Organisms living side by side with little interaction
What decomposes the most complex organic matter?
Actinomycetes
What happens to the organic matter during composition
2/3 goes into c02 and 1/3 becomes microbial cells or soil
What happens at a high c/n ratio
immobilization
What happens at a low c/n ratio
Mineralization
What two things does SOM do to improve soil
Increases CEC and pH buffering
What 3 residue properties affect decomposition?
Size and surface area
C/n ratio
Chemical composition (lgnin..)
For which 2 nutrients are soil tests done?
P and K