Soil Composition and Function
Soil is a complex mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that supports the growth of plants and soil organisms. It consists of five main components: minerals, soil organic matter, living organisms, gas, and water. The solid phase of soil is composed of inorganic particles such as organic matter, silt, sand, and clay, which form aggregates held together by clay particles and organic matter. The organic matter fraction of soils comes from the decomposition of animal or plant products such as faeces and leaves.
Soil serves various vital functions, including sustaining plant and animal life, regulating water flow, filtering and buffering pollutants, cycling nutrients, providing physical stability, and serving as a medium for plant growth. It also acts as an engineering medium, a habitat for soil organisms, a recycling system for nutrients and organic wastes, a regulator of water quality, a modifier of atmospheric composition, and a medium for plant growth, making it a critically important provider of ecosystem services.
In summary, soil is a dynamic, biogeochemical system that is vital to the life cycles of terrestrial vegetation and soil-inhabiting organisms, and by extension, to the human race as well.
