SOIL EROSION
This type of erosion occurs naturally and can be described as a natural leveling process.
What is geological erosion?
When pesticides are applied to a field, only this % actually reaches the targeted pest.
What is 1%?
These 2 common practices help reduce the amount of waste that reaches landfills.
What is recycling and composting?
This is the biggest challenge farmers face when transitioning from conventional to organic farming.
What is pest control?
All organic / living or once living organisms contain this element.
What is carbon?
This type of soil erosion is human-induced. Soil is washed, blown, or scraped away faster than new soil can be formed.
What is accelerated erosion?
When pesticies are applied to a field, this % reaches the soil.
This type of landfill relies on soil to filter water that infiltrates it.
What are natural attenuation or unsecured landfills?
Certified organic livestock must always have access to _______________________.
What is the outdoors and a grazing pasture?
This is one benefit of OM in soil.
increased water holding capacity
What is
food for microbes
plant nutrients
binds sand, silt, and clay particles
improved airflow
?
This is the minimum wind speed required to move soil.
What is 10 mph?
This is why toxic metals accumulate in soil over time.
What is because microbes do not break them down?
This type of landfill does not rely on the soil to filter water, but instead uses a system of pipes and pumps to remove water.
What are contained / secured landfills?
This is the key to soil conservation in certified organic farming.
What is keeping the ground vegetated / covered for as much of the year as possible?
This is the zone where soil meets the groundwater.
What is the water table?
This is how colonization accelerated soil erosion in the U.S.
What is clear cutting forests for farmland and introducing plows / tillage?
This is 1 of the 7 pathways a contaminant may follow when it reaches soil.
What is
1. vaporize into the atmosphere
2. bond tightly to clay or OM
3. infiltrate and become part of soil solution
4. chemical reactions within soil
5. surface runoff
6. uptake by plants
7. decomposed by microbes
?
This is 1 environmental concern associated with landfills.
What is water pollution,
unstable land due to "settling" of compostable materials,
or contribution to greenhouse gases?
This "pesticide" is commonly used in organic farming because it influences insect mating behavior, rather than killing insects.
What are pheromones?
This is how soil microbes influence nutrient availability in soils.
What is eating OM and pooping it out?
These large channels are formed by rapid water erosion and can damage entire landscapes.
What are gullies / gully?
This is what happens to organic contaminants as they "age" within soil.
What is microbial activity slows and contaminant concentrations level out because remaining contaminants are trapped in nanopores?
This is another environmental concern associated with landfills.
What is water pollution,
unstable land due to "settling" of compostable materials,
or contribution to greenhouse gases?
Animal manures must be applied to food crops this many days before harvest.
What is 90 - 120 days?
These are the 6 roles of soil.
What is
1. Support plant growth
2. Regulate water supplies
3. Modify the atmosphere
4. Recycle waste/OM
5. Habitat for organisms
6. Engineering medium