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Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumA tale of two (soil) cities—(benefits of "cover crops" to soil)
https://www.soils.org/discover-soils/story/tale-two-soil-cities[font face=Serif][font size=5]A tale of two (soil) cities[/font]
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By Susan Fisk
As we walk along a forest path, the soil beneath our feet seems like a uniform substance. However, it is an intricate network of soil particles, pores, minerals, soil microbes, and more. It is awash in variety.
Soil is a living, dynamic substance, and the microbial life within it is crucial to providing plant life with the food they need to grow. The microbes can be bacteria or fungi, but both need spacethe poresfor a good living environment.
Kravchenkos work compared two contrasting agricultural systems. The soil in one system, referred to as conventional in the study, grew crops such as corn in summers. Then he soil was barren from the time of main crop harvest through planting the following spring. The soil in the other system, the cover crop system, had live vegetation year-round.
Several surprising observations sprang from the study. First, the aggregates of the two agricultural systems developed different pore characteristics. The aggregates from soil in the cover crop system were more complex and varied in their interior pore structures with more large and medium-sized pores. The conventional system had more small pores spread more evenly through the entire aggregate.
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[font size=3]
By Susan Fisk
As we walk along a forest path, the soil beneath our feet seems like a uniform substance. However, it is an intricate network of soil particles, pores, minerals, soil microbes, and more. It is awash in variety.
Soil is a living, dynamic substance, and the microbial life within it is crucial to providing plant life with the food they need to grow. The microbes can be bacteria or fungi, but both need spacethe poresfor a good living environment.
Kravchenkos work compared two contrasting agricultural systems. The soil in one system, referred to as conventional in the study, grew crops such as corn in summers. Then he soil was barren from the time of main crop harvest through planting the following spring. The soil in the other system, the cover crop system, had live vegetation year-round.
Several surprising observations sprang from the study. First, the aggregates of the two agricultural systems developed different pore characteristics. The aggregates from soil in the cover crop system were more complex and varied in their interior pore structures with more large and medium-sized pores. The conventional system had more small pores spread more evenly through the entire aggregate.
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A tale of two (soil) cities—(benefits of "cover crops" to soil) (Original Post)
OKIsItJustMe
Jul 2015
OP
pscot
(21,024 posts)1. This is Rodale 101
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)2. It's also Soils Science Society of America 101
Last edited Fri Jul 3, 2015, 04:07 PM - Edit history (2)
https://www.soils.org/about-society
They share a lot of uh common ground
In any case, Rodale keeps doing research, and so do others
NickB79
(19,301 posts)3. Some societies have known about this concept for centuries
But, time and time again, we ignore the long-term perils of monocropping and soil destruction because it's more convenient and/or cheaper to till the soil until it's near death and move on, allowing the soil to regenerate naturally.
The only problem is, there's nowhere left to move on to anymore.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)4. Acreage available cheap