MODULE 1: FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

1.0. OVERVIEW

Soil science is a science dealing with soil as a natural resource on the surface of
the earth, including soil formation, classification and mapping and the physical, chemical
biological and fertility properties of soil per se. Soils is the collection of natural bodies on
the earth’s surface, containing living matter and supporting or capable of supporting
plants.

In this module, you will be introduced the fundamental concepts and definition of
soils. Also, you will learn the importance of soils and its history.

2.0. LEARNING OUTCOMES

After this topic, students enrolled in this subject should have a general
understanding on the fundamental concepts and definition of soils.

3.0 LEARNING PLAN

Ecosystems

The term “eco” refers to a part of the world and “system” refers to the coordinating
units.

The living organisms of a habitat and their surrounding environment function

together as a a single unit. This ecological unit is called as an ecosystem.

An ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of life and the environment. The

life is referred to the biotic community including the plants, animals and other living
organisms. This is denoted as biocoenosis, the environment is the biotope encompassing
the physical region of life.

The term ecosystem first appeared in a publication by the British ecologist Arthur
Tansley, during 1935. An ecosystem may be of very different size. It may be a whole
forest, as well aa a small pond. Different ecosystems are often separated by geographical
barriers, like dessert, mountains or ocean, or are isolated otherwise, like lakes or rivers.

As these borders are never rigid, ecosystems tend to blend into each other. As a
result, the whole earth can be seen as a single ecosystem, or a lake can be divided into
several ecosystems, depending on the used scale.
 The ecosystem is an open system. It receives energy from the outside source (the
sun), as input, fixes and utilizes the energy and ultimately dissipates the heat into space
as output.

Ecosystem consists of two major components: (1) biotic or living components; and
(2) nonbiotic or nonliving components. Biotic components include plants, animals,
decomposers. Nonliving components include air, water, land.

Fig. 1. Ecosystem

Source: onlinesciencenotes.com

The Pedosphere

The pedosphere is the outermost layer of the earth that is composed of soil and
the subject to soil formation processes. It exists at the interface of the lithosphere,
atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. The pedosphere is the skin of the earth and
only develops when there is a dynamic interaction between the atmosphere (air in and
above the soil), biosphere (living organisms), lithosphere (unconsolidated regolith and
consolidated bedrock) and the hydrosphere (water in, on and below the soil). The
pedosphere is the foundation of terrestrial life on earth.
 Fig. 2. The pedosphere as the intersection of the lithosphere,
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

source: ScienceDirect.Pedosphere-an overview

Definition of Soil

Soils is a natural body composed of a variable mixture of broken and weathered

minerals and decaying organic matter, and when containing the proper amounts of air
and water, supplies sustenance and gives mechanical support of plants.

There two approaches to study soils: (1) Pedology – is the study of soil which puts
emphasis on the origin, characteristics, classification, and description; and (2)
Edaphology – is soil science which is more concerned with the practical utilization of soil,
and the principles of maintaining its fertility.

Importance (function) of Soils

Why are soils important?

 Great Integrator Snapshot of
decomposer Geologic, climate,
Medium of crop biological, and
production human history

Waste decomposer
Producer of and absorber
of gases
Soil
Source material for
construction,
Medium of plant
medicine, art, etc.
growth

Home to organisms Filter of water

(plants, animals and and wastes
others
Essential natural resource

Fig. 3. Importance of soils

Soils are essential for life, in the sense that they provide the medium for plant
growth, habitat for many insects and other organisms, act as a filtration system for surface
water, carbon dioxide store and maintenance of atmospheric gases.

Why medium for plant growth? Because..

Fig. 4. Soils as medium for plant growth

source: passel2.unl.edu

➢ Soils support roots and keep them upright for growth.

➢ Soils provide plants with essential minerals and nutrients.
➢ Soils provide air for gaseous exchange between roots and atmosphere.
➢ Soils protect plants from erosion and other destructive physical, biological and
chemical activity.
 ➢ Soils hold water (moisture) and maintain adequate aeration.

Why habitat for many insects and other organisms? Because…

Fig. 5. Soils as habitat for many insects and

other organisms
source: shutterstock.com

➢ Insects and microbes (very tiny single-cell organisms) live in th soils and depend
on soils for food and air.
➢ Soils are homes to a diverse range of organisms such as worms and termites.
They provide the needed moisture and air for the breakdown of organic matter.
➢ They provide a home for many organisms such as insects to lay and hatch eggs
and rodents to give birth to new offsprings.

Why a filtration system for surface water? Because…

Fig. 6. Soils as filtration system for surface water

source: britannica.com
 ➢ After a rainfall and snowmelts, water flows on the earth’s surface to water body,
but much of it soaks and gets infiltrated into the ground. As it continues its way
downwards through the many layers in the ground, it is filtered from dust,
chemicals and other contaminants. This is why aquifers (underground water) are
one of the purest sources of water. Filtered water also provides plants with clean,
unpolluted water needed for growth.

Why carbon store and maintenance of atmospheric gases? Bacause…

Fig. 7. Soils as carbon Storehouse

Source: Judith D. Schwartz: Soils as Carbon Storehouse

➢ Soils help regulate atmospheric Carbon dioxide (CO2) by acting as a carbo store.
During humidification (a process where soil organisms form complex and stable
organic matter) some organic matter breakdown do not occur completely,
especially in soil like peat, owing to its high acid and water content.

On a global scale, soil contain about twice as much carbon as the

atmosphere and about three times as much as vegetation.

This results in the accumulation of organic matter in the soil which is high in carbon
content. Nitrogen phosphorus, and many other nutrients are stored, transformed,
and cycled in the soil. (source: eschooltoday.com-importance of soils)

History of Soil Science

The early concepts of soils were based on ideas developed by the German
chemist, Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), and modified and refined by argicultural
scientists who worked on samples of soil in laboratories, greenhouses, and on small field
plots. The soils were rarely examined below the depth of normal tillage. These chemists
held the “balance-sheet” theory of plant nutrition. Soil was considered a more or less static
storage bin for plant nutrients – the soils could be used and replaced. This concept still
has value when applied within the framework of modern soil science, although a useful
understanding of soils by harvested crops and their return in manure, lime, and fertilizer.

The early geologists generallynaccepted the balance-sheet theory of soil fertility

and applied it within the framework of their own discipline. They discribes soil as
disintegrated rock of various sorts – granite, sandstone, glacial till, and the like. They went
further, however, and described how the weathering processes modified this material and
how geologic processesshaped it into landforms such as glacial moraines, alluvial plains,
loess plains, and marind teraaces. Geologist Nathaniel Shaler (1841-1906) monograph
(1891) on the origin and nature of soils summarized the late 19th century geological
concept of soils.

Early soil surveys were made to help farmers locate soils responsive to different
management practices and to help them decide what crops and management practices
were most suitable for the particular kinds of soil on their farms. Many of the early workers
were geologists because only geologists were skilled in the necessary field methods and
in scientific correlation approppriate to the study of soils. They conceived soils as mainly
the weathering products of geologic fromations, defined by landform and lithologic
composition. Most of the soil surveys published before 1910 were strongly influenced by
these concepts. Those published from 1910 to 1920 gradually added greater refinements
and recognized more soil features but retained fundamentally geological concepts.

The balance-sheet theory of plant nutrition dominated the laboratory and the
geological concept field work. Both approaches wre taught in many classrooms until the
alte 1920’s. although braoder and more generally useful concepts of soil were being
developed by some soil scientists, especially Eugene W. Hilgard (1833-1916) and George
Nelson Coffey (1875-1967) in the United States and soil scientists in Russia, the
necessary data for formulating these broader cocepts came from the field work of the soil
survey. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org. retrieved september 18, 2020)

REFERENCES:

A. Balasubramanian. Ecosystem and its Component. Centre for Advance Studies

in Earth Science.

Eschooltoday.com. Importance of Soils

https://en.m.wikipedia.org. History of Soil Science.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org. The Pedosphere.

www.sciencedirect. Pedosphere – An Overview