5 Vocabulary
Sod
– the thick mass of tough roots at the surface of the soil- kept the soil in place and held onto moisture.
What is the thick mass of tough roots at the surface of the soil in a grassland is called?
Sod
. The thick mass of tough roots at the surface of the soil. Helps keep the soil in place and keeps in moisture.
When farmers disturb the soil and its plant cover as little as possible what type of soil conservation method are they using?]?
This helps slow the runoff of excess rainfall and prevents it from washing the soil away. farmers disturb the soil and its plant cover as little as possible. This method is also called
low-till or no-till plowing
. farmer plants different crops in a field each year.
When farmers plow their fields with the curve of the slope?
Plowing fields along the curves of slope
to prevent soil loss
. Farmers plow their fields along the curves of a slope instead of in straight rows. Dead weeds and stalks of the previous year’s crop are plowed into the ground to help return soil nutrients, retain moisture, and hold soil in place.
What causes soil damage and loss?
Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the
impact of water or wind detaches
and removes soil particles, causing the soil to deteriorate. Soil deterioration and low water quality due to erosion and surface runoff have become severe problems worldwide.
Why is bare soil bad?
Bare ground
causes rain to run off swiftly
, carrying with it sediment and soil nutrients. The result is erosion, less productive rangeland, and lower water quality.
How do farmers keep their soil in place describe at least two techniques?
Buffer Zones
. With buffer zones, farmers plant strips of vegetation between fields and bodies of water such as streams and lakes. These plants help keep soil in place, keeping soil out of the water source. Buffer zones also act as a filter for water that flows from the field to the waterway.
What can destroy soil structure?
Tillage
is the preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. … Tillage destroys the soil structure and exposes and kills soil organisms like earthworms. Tillage also reduces the organic matter in the soil.
What can farmers do to make sloping land good for crop production?
Cover crops, relay cropping, mulching and bio or synthetic geo-textiles placed on the soil’s surface
decrease the direct impact of raindrops on the soil surface. On a larger scale, buffer strips in farming areas or close to riparian systems, and contour terracing, are also effective at addressing this issue.
When farmers plow their fields along the curves of a slope instead of in straight rows it is called?
Contour bunding or contour farming or Contour ploughing
is the farming practice of plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines.
Which animal is used to Plough a field?
Ploughs were traditionally drawn by
oxen and horses
, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors.
What are 3 ways soil can be damaged or lost?
1)
Sheet erosion by water
; 2) Wind erosion; 3) Rill erosion – happens with heavy rains and usually creates smalls rills over hillsides; 4) Gully erosion – when water runoff removes soil along drainage lines.
What are the 5 effects of soil erosion?
- Loss of Topsoil. Obviously, this is the biggest effect of soil erosion. …
- Soil Compaction. …
- Reduced Organic and Fertile Matter. …
- Poor Drainage. …
- Issues With Plant Reproduction. …
- Soil Acidity Levels. …
- Long Term Erosion. …
- Water Pollution.
How long does it take to build enough soil to farm effectively?
The time needed to form a soil depends on the latitude: in environments characterized by a mild climate, it takes 200-400 years to form 1 cm of soil. in wet tropical areas soil formation is faster, as it takes 200 years. in order to accumulate enough substances to make a soil fertile it takes
3000 years
.
How is water affected by the healthy and bare soil?
Pores in bare ground become sealed and
there is essentially no water percolation
; so sparsely covered soil negatively impacts groundwater supplies. “A covered soil holds more water by binding it to organic matter and loses less water to runoff and evaporation,” say soil scientists with USDA-NRCS.
Why should we keep the soil covered never exposed?
Cover crops and
plant residue prevent that violent splash on soil
, protecting soil aggregates from being pounded by falling raindrops. … In this protective environment, water infiltrates the soil and becomes available to plant roots.
