Unit 3 Flashcards
Arthropod
A phylum or division of the animal kingdom; includes insects, spiders, and Crustacea; characterized by a coating which serves as an external skeleton and by legs with distinct movable segments or joints
Bacteria
Single-celled microorganisms; some cause human, animal, or plant diseases; others are beneficial.
Accumulation
To gather or collect.
Bedrock
Unweathered hard rock that lies directly beneath the soil layers or beneath superficial geological deposits, such as glacial drift.
Erosion
The group of processes whereby earthy or rock material is worn away, loosened or dissolved and removed from any part of the earth’s surface.
Deposition
The addition of sediment, as by flowing water.
Horizon
A layer of soil, approximately parallel to the surface, having distinct characteristics produced by soil-forming processes.
Ground Cover
Any vegetation that grows close to the ground, producing protection for the soil.
Microorganism
An organism so small that it cannot be seen clearly without the use of a microscope; a microscopic or submicroscopic organism.
Leaching
The removal of soluble constituents from soils or other materials by percolating water.
Irrigation
The artificial application of water to soil for the purpose of increasing plant production.
Organic Matter
Matter found in, or produced by, living animals and plants, which contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and often nitrogen and sulfur.
Nematodes
Microscopic, wormlike, transparent organisms that can attack plant roots or stems to cause stunted or unhealthy growth.
Mottle
Color difference on a mass of moderately poorly drained soil.
Parent Material
The horizon of weathered rock or partially weathered soil material from which the soil is formed.
Porocity
Refers to the extent of voids or openings in the soil that exist between soil particles and soil peds or clods. These pores hold water and air for absorption by plant roots.
Soil Texture
The relative proportion in a soil of the various size groups of individual soil grains.
Soil
The mineral and organic surface of the earth capable of supporting upland plants. It has been (and is being) formed by the active factors of climate and biosphere exerting their influence on passive parent material and topography over neutral time.
Translocation
To move or transfer from one place to another; cause to change location; displace.
Transformation
Change in form, appearance, nature, or character.
Topography
Slope of the land and the position on the landscape, such as the top of a hill, a hillside, or the foot of a slope.
Weathering
Atmospheric action on rock surfaces producing decomposition, disintegration, or alteration of rocks at or close to the earth’s surface.
Loam
Soil that consists of less than 52 percent sand, 28 to 50 percent silt, and 7 to 27 percent clay, resulting in a soil texture ideal for gardening.
Internal Drainage
The relative degree of downward movement of water in a soil. Also called permeability.
Sand
In soil science, a group of textural classes in which the particles are finer than gravel but coarser than silt, ranging in size from 2.00 to 0.5 millimeters in diameter. It is the textural class of any soil that contains 85 percent or more of sand and not more than 10 percent of clay.
Permeability
The capacity of soil or rock for transmitting a fluid. Degree of permeability depends upon the size and shape of the pores, the size, and shape of their interconnections, and the extent of the latter.
Ped
A unit of soil structure such as an aggregate, crumb, prism, block, or granule, formed by natural processes (in contrast with a clod, which is formed artificially by compression of a wet clay
Silt
A textural class of soils that contains 80 percent or more of silt and less than 12 percent clay
Soil Structure
The arrangement of primary soil particles into compound particles or aggregates that are separated from adjoining aggregates.
Soil Profile
A vertical section of a soil. The section, or face of an exposure made by a cut, may exhibit with depth a succession of separate layers although these may not be separated by sharp lines of demarcation.
Base
A substance which gives off hydroxyl ions when dissolved in water, as contrasted with an acid, which gives off hydrogen ions.
Alkaline
A chemical term referring to basic reaction where the pH reading is above 7, as distinguished from acidic reaction where the pH reading is below 7.
Acid
A substance containing hydrogen that dissociates to form hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Term applied to any substance with a pH less than 7.0.
Gypsum
A mineral calcium sulfate, combined with water of hydration. In arid regions, large tonnages are used to treat sodic soils.
Fertilize
To supply the necessary mineral and organic nutrients to soil or water to aid the growth and development of plants.
Conductivity
The property or power of conducting heat, electricity, or sound.
Ion
An atom or a group of atoms carrying an electrical charge, which may be positive or negative.
Hydroxyl
The ion OH-.
Hydrogen
A colorless, odorless, flammable gas, the lightest of the elements, that combines chemically with oxygen to form water.
pH
A numerical measure of acidity or hydrogen ion activity of a substance such as food or soil. The neutral point is pH 7.0. All pH values below 7.0 are acid and all above 7.0 are alkaline.
Nutrient
An element or compound in a soil that is essential for the growth of a plant.
Sodic Soil
A soil with an exchangeable sodium percentage of 15 percent or greater and a pH between 9.5 and 10.0.
Salinity
The quantity of saltiness in seawater or freshwater, most commonly expressed in parts of dissolved salt per 1,000 parts of water.
Saline Soil
A soil containing soluble salts in such quantities that they interfere with the growth of most crop plants.
Cubic Measurement
A system for the measurement of volume or space in cubic units.
Bark
The exterior of a woody stem containing phloem tubes and usually some bast fibers.
Aeration
The process by which air in the soil is replenished by air from the atmosphere.
Fertilizer
Any organic or inorganic material added to soil or water to provide plant nutrients and to increase the growth, yield, quantity, or nutritive value to the plants grown therein.
Drainage
The removal of surplus ground or surface water by artificial means.
Peat
Fibrous, partly decayed fragments of vascular plants that retain enough structure so that the peat can be identified as originating from certain plants (e.g., sphagnum peat or sedge peat).
Vermiculite
A mineral, or minerals, classified with the micas, which with treatment at high temperatures, expands into scales, and becomes a loose, absorbent mass.
Pumice
A porous or spongy form of volcanic glass.
Aggregate Culture
A hydroponic system that uses a media to absorb the nutrient solution and hold it for the plant.
Aeroponics
A system of hydroponics that involves misting of the roots with a nutrient solution.
Acidity
Measure of hydrogen ions in a solution.
Dissolved Oxygen
The amount of oxygen found in water or solution.
Conductivity Tester
An electronic device used to measure the electrical conductivity.
Hydroponics
Growing plants in a nutrient solution and a media other than soil.
Electrical Conductivity
A measurement in hydroponics used to determine the amount of nutrient in solution that is available to a plant.
Nutrient Flow Technique
A popular water culture technique where the nutrient solution is continuously flowing at the tips of the plants roots set in a medium.
Neutral
Having neither acid nor alkaline qualities, pH of 7.
Rock fool
Fibers made of natural or synthetic minerals used as a media for growing plants in a hydroponic system.
Water Culture
A hydroponic system where the roots are in constant contact with the nutrient solution where the media may not be as absorbent.
