Soil regeneration
These services include food, animal feed, and fiber production, climate moderation, waste disposal, water filtration, elemental cycling,[1] and much more.
[5] Macro and micro organisms assist with processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, disease suppression, and moderating CO2 in the atmosphere.
[5] The rhizosphere is an "area of concentrated microbial activity close to the root" and where water and nutrients are readily available.
[4] Compaction occurs when soil is pushed together and becomes harder, so the ability to retain air and water is diminished.
[4] This increases erosion and flooding, diminishes the ability of plants to grow good root systems, and reduces biological diversity.
[1] One of the most predictable ways to determine whether soil degradation has occurred is to measure its organic carbon content.
[6] Most greenhouse gases are primarily composed of carbon and they produce an effect where warmer air that is heated by the sun is kept from leaving the atmosphere by forming a barrier in the troposphere.
Humans have been significantly influencing the global carbon cycle since the Industrial Revolution through various means, such as transportation and agriculture.
By means of fossil fuels and intensive farming, much of the natural carbon in the Earth's pedosphere has been released into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gasses.
[8] As one historical review put it, "Accelerated soil erosion has plagued the earth since the dawn of settled agriculture, and has been a major issue in the rise and fall of early civilization.
Agroecology is an overarching category of approaches to creating a more sustainable agricultural system and increasing soil health.
There is a strong emphasis on knowledge of plants, animals, and natural cycles to promote high-efficiency food production, decrease reliance on human involvement, and create a sustainable and resilient ecosystem.
[4] holistic management stems from the work of Allan Savory, who observes that planned grazing can improve soil health and reverse the effects of desertification by increasing biomass.
[3] Inorganic amendments are generally used for things like improving the texture and structure of the soil, balancing the pH, and limiting the bioavailability of heavy metal toxins.
Creating compost requires careful management of temperature, the carbon to nitrogen ratio, water, and air.
