BIOL150 Chapter : Life in Land.docx
30 Jan 2013
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Document Summary
Influences the rates of carbon and nutrient cycling, soil respiration, transfer nutrients to. Provide food and habitat for larger organisms. Key to the development of soil structure allowing development and maintenance of complex canals of air spaces and. Growth and activity of organisms provides stability to mineral components cavities within the soil. Climate affects rates of weathering of parent materials, leaching of organic and inorganic substances, erosion, and decomposition of organic matter through direct weathering effects species that can grow in a given area. Also alter decomposition by directly impacting the activity of soil organisms and indirectly altering soil activity by influencing the type and amount of plant. Soil structure results from the long term interaction of climate, organisms, topography, and parent material. Plants secrete root exudates, along with the living roots and plant litter, serve as substrates for bacterial, fungal, and animal species. Geography distribution of terrestrial biomes corresponds closely to variation in climate, especially prevailing temp. and precipitation.
