COLORADO SOIL HEALTH

Below the Surface.

Soil Composition

Soil Ecosystem

"Soil has both inherent and dynamic properties, or qualities. Inherent soil quality is a soil’s natural ability to function. For example, sandy soil drains faster than clayey soil. Deep soil has more room for roots than soils with bedrock near the surface. These characteristics do not change easily. Dynamic soil quality is how soil changes depending on how it is managed. Management choices affect the amount of soil organic matter, soil structure, soil depth, and water and nutrient holding capacity. One goal of soil health research is to learn how to manage soil in a way that improves soil function. Soils respond differently to management depending on the inherent properties of the soil and the surrounding landscape" (NRCS).

An ecosystem is a community of living things which functions both in parts and as a whole in order to sustain a network to support life. An individual person cannot live without water, air, food, etc., and the same is true for the soil. Without basic necessities, the soil is deprived of all of the nutrients, so then, the soil cannot then support life in full, and will produce mediocre crops. With a thriving soil ecosystem, the soil manages itself and requires little, if any, help from fertilizers, tilling, etc. in order to sustain life.

"Soils are also one of the most active ecosystems on earth. A handful of soil contains more organisms and micro-organisms than the planet’s entire human population. Worldwide soils encompass one quarter of the planet’s biodiversity, including billions of microbes that are the foundation of today’s antibiotics" (Bayer).

Why does soil health matter? What are the facts?

"Healthy soil gives us clean air and water, bountiful crops and forests, productive grazing lands, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes. Soil does all this by performing five essential functions:

Regulating water - Soil helps control where rain, snowmelt, and irrigation water goes. Water and dissolved solutes flow over the land or into and through the soil.
Sustaining plant and animal life - The diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil.
Filtering and buffering potential pollutants - The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials, including industrial and municipal by-products and atmospheric deposits.
Cycling nutrients - Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and many other nutrients are stored, transformed, and cycled in the soil.
Physical stability and support - Soil structure provides a medium for plant roots. Soils also provide support for human structures and protection for archeological treasures."

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/health/

"Healthy soils are essential for our food security: 95% of our food comes from the earth. It is also the planet’s largest natural water filter, helping supply the world with clean water. Soil even helps regulate the climate – storing more carbon than all the world’s forests put together" (Bayer).
https://www.canwelivebetter.bayer.com/environment/saving-earth-how-sustainably-boost-soil-health