B6 - Life in soil
- Created by: Naomi
- Created on: 21-01-13 14:21
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- Life in soil
- Components of soil
- Living plants and animals
- Different sized mineral particles
- Decayed reamins of dead plants and animals
- Air
- Including oxygen for respiration in the living plants and animals
- Water containing dissolved minerals
- Why do plants need soil?
- Minerals for growth
- Water to stay alive
- Anchorage for the roots
- Different types of soil
- Soils can be acidic, alkaline or neutral. There are soils that drain well and others that can get waterlogged
- Sandy soils drain well because they have large mineral particles with big air spaces
- Clay soils have small particles close together so the become easily waterlogged
- Loam is a good soil because it contains clay and sand
- Loam usually has large amounts of decomposed material called humus
- Humus is important to living things in the soil because it will:
- Decompose to release minerals
- Loam usually has large amounts of decomposed material called humus
- Increase the air content of the soil
- Earthworms are important to soil structure and fertility because they:
- Bury organic material for decomposition by bacteria and fungi
- Aerate and drain the soil
- This allows organisms to respire aerobically
- Mix up soil layers
- This is so that dead material is decomposed
- Add chalk to the soil, so neutralising the acid
- The chalk comes from glands in the worm's digestive system
- This is important because some plants will not grow if the pH is too low
- Components of soil
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