EESA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Soil Chemistry, Eutrophication, Food Security
Document Summary
Many current environmental issues centre on sustainable soil management. 2 key issues currently: climate change, soil erosion/degradation and its links with food security. Soil represents the largest terrestrial reservoir for carbon. Soil carbon fluxes are driven by rates of soil respiration and decay or organic matter. These things produce massive amounts of carbon dioxide and methane. Net loss of soils (erosion) and reduction in soil fertility (degradation) are among human"s largest impacts on the environment. Largely linked with intensive agriculture (and the multitude of things associated with it) Universal soil loss equation* important for final exam. A = r k ls c p. Alternative forms of agricultural management (or sustainable farming) take many forms. Soil conservation a major theme in all sustainable food production systems. Alternating the crops grown field from one season or year to the next. Planting different types of crops in alternating bands or other spatially mixed arrangements to increase ground cover.
