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Concept
Soil regeneration
Résumé
Soil regeneration, as a particular form of ecological regeneration within the field of restoration ecology, is creating new soil and rejuvenating soil health by: minimizing the loss of topsoil, retaining more carbon than is depleted, boosting biodiversity, and maintaining proper water and nutrient cycling. This has many benefits, such as: soil sequestration of carbon in response to a growing threat of climate change, a reduced risk of soil erosion, and increased overall soil resilience.
Soil quality means the ability of the soil to "perform its functions." Soil is integral to a variety of ecosystem services. These services include food, animal feed, and fiber production, climate moderation, waste disposal, water filtration, elemental cycling, and much more. Soil is composed of organic matter (decomposing plants, animals, and microbes), biomass (living plants, animals, and microbes), water, air, minerals (sand, silt, and clay), and nutrients (nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus). For optimal plant growth, a proper carbon to nitrogen ratio of 20–30:1 must be maintained. Promoting biodiversity is key to maintaining healthy soil. This can be done by growing a variety of plants, always keeping soil covered, maintaining a living root system, and minimizing soil disturbance. Macro and micro organisms assist with processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, disease suppression, and moderating CO2 in the atmosphere. Plants have a particularly symbiotic relationship with microbes in the rhizosphere of the soil. The rhizosphere is an "area of concentrated microbial activity close to the root" and where water and nutrients are readily available. Plants exchange carbohydrates for nutrients excreted by the microbes, different carbohydrates support different microbes. Dead plants and other organic matter also feed the variety of organisms in the soil. Organisms like earthworms and termites are examples of macro organisms in the soil. A good indication that you have quality soil is a lack of pests and diseases.
Source officielle
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