How does fertilizers and pesticides affect the quality of soil and soil biodiversity and what happen if soil do not have microorganisms and affect soil health?
Are you talking about bacterial populations or invertebrates? Pesticides will decrease diversity allowing for a smaller range of potentially detrimental species to take over. With loss of key detritivores there will be a reduction in soil aeration and nutrient recycling. Fertilizers would increase plant and nitrate metabolizing bacteria diversity and should only be detrimental at very high concentrations.
Chemical fertilizer overuse can contribute to soil acidification and soil crust, thereby reducing the content of organic matter, humus content, beneficial species, stunting plant growth, altering the pH of the soil, growing pests, and even leading to the release of greenhouse gases. Pesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants. Pesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants. The use of pesticides decreases the general biodiversity in the soil. Not using the chemicals results in higher soil quality, with the additional effect that more organic matter in the soil allows for higher water retention. Pesticides can have a serious impact on biodiversity due to their widespread application to reduce target animals, plants, and fungi in farmlands, which may affect non-target organisms as well.Natural succession happens in a number of plant environments including in the soil. Bacteria improve the soil so that new plants can become established. Without bacteria, new plant populations and communities struggle to survive or even exist. Soil microorganisms are responsible for most of the nutrient release from organic matter. When microorganisms decompose organic matter, they use the carbon and nutrients in the organic matter for their own growth. They release excess nutrients into the soil where they can be taken up by plants. They increase soil fertility by incorporating air, minerals and nitrogenous compounds. They contribute in increasing plant growth by providing essential elements, minerals that plants cannot utilize by their Owen. Microorganisms decompose organic matter to simpler form that can be easily uptake by plants.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agricultural Science
- Agronomy