Soil can be the principal point of our life, and it finds three types in sand, silt and clay.the sand are the larger particles then it possible to see with naked eye, silt the medium particle which can be seen with microscope,clay are smallest particles seen with electronic microscope and also other influences get through organic matter , Humus, parent material etc,... those composition of soil live together. each component content small pore spaces, and the smallest pores can not permit water to pass through correctly but we other types of soil allows water to pass well, because they have big pore spaces.How they can destroy environment? i think its a issue of the composition and theirs structures that may affect the environment and the the proportion of acidity, and alkalinity they are also the effects of decreasing the environment .
Effects of Soil Texture on Belowground Carbon and Nutrient Storage in a Lowland Amazonian Forest Ecosystem (Ecosystems,March 2000, Volume 3, Issue 2, pp 193–209)
ABSTRACT :Soil texture plays a key role in belowground C storage in forest ecosystems and strongly influences nutrient availability and retention, particularly in highly weathered soils. We used field data and the Century ecosystem model to explore the role of soil texture in belowground C storage, nutrient pool sizes, and N fluxes in highly weathered soils in an Amazonian forest ecosystem. Our field results showed that sandy soils stored approximately 113 Mg C ha-1 to a 1-m depth versus 101 Mg C ha-1 in clay soils. Coarse root C represented a large and significant ecosystem C pool, amounting to 62% and 48% of the surface soil C pool on sands and clays, respectively, and 34% and 22% of the soil C pool on sands and clays to 1-m depth. The quantity of labile soil P, the soil C:N ratio, and live and dead fine root biomass in the 0–10-cm soil depth decreased along a gradient from sands to clays, whereas the opposite trend was observed for total P, mineral N, potential N mineralization, and denitrification enzyme activity. The Century model was able to predict the observed trends in surface soil C and N in loams and sands but underestimated C and N pools in the sands by approximately 45%. The model predicted that total belowground C (0–20 cm depth) in sands would be approximately half that of the clays, in contrast to the 89% we measured. This discrepancy is likely to be due to an underestimation of the role of belowground C allocation with low litter quality in sands, as well as an overestimation of the role of physical C protection by clays in this ecosystem. Changes in P and water availability had little effect on model outputs, whereas adding N greatly increased soil organic matter pools and productivity, illustrating the need for further integration of model structure and tropical forest biogeochemical cycling.
The ecohydrological role of soil texture in a water-limited ecosystem (TOC,Volume 37, Issue 12,December 2001 ,Pages 2863–2872)
Abstract : Soil texture is a key variable in the coupled relationship between climate, soil, and vegetation. This coupling and its dependence on soil texture are studied in this paper using analytical descriptions for soil moisture dynamics and the corresponding vegetation water stress. Results confirm the importance of soil texture in partitioning rainfall into the mean values of the water balance loss components, namely, evapotranspiration, leakage, and runoff, and in determining vegetation water stress for the vegetation and climatic regimes of the La Copita Research Area in Texas. Two separate mechanisms by which this sensitivity to soil texture can impact the ecological structure at La Copita are illustrated. First, dynamics similar to the inverse texture effect, whereby the optimal soil texture for a given vegetation type changes with rainfall amount, are demonstrated for the two most common species at this site. Second, it is shown that soil texture plays a major role in the modulation of the impact that interannual rainfall fluctuations have on the fitness and coexistence of trees and grasses.
Effects of Soil Texture on Belowground Carbon and Nutrient Storage in a Lowland Amazonian Forest Ecosystem (Ecosystems,March 2000, Volume 3, Issue 2, pp 193–209)
ABSTRACT :Soil texture plays a key role in belowground C storage in forest ecosystems and strongly influences nutrient availability and retention, particularly in highly weathered soils. We used field data and the Century ecosystem model to explore the role of soil texture in belowground C storage, nutrient pool sizes, and N fluxes in highly weathered soils in an Amazonian forest ecosystem. Our field results showed that sandy soils stored approximately 113 Mg C ha-1 to a 1-m depth versus 101 Mg C ha-1 in clay soils. Coarse root C represented a large and significant ecosystem C pool, amounting to 62% and 48% of the surface soil C pool on sands and clays, respectively, and 34% and 22% of the soil C pool on sands and clays to 1-m depth. The quantity of labile soil P, the soil C:N ratio, and live and dead fine root biomass in the 0–10-cm soil depth decreased along a gradient from sands to clays, whereas the opposite trend was observed for total P, mineral N, potential N mineralization, and denitrification enzyme activity. The Century model was able to predict the observed trends in surface soil C and N in loams and sands but underestimated C and N pools in the sands by approximately 45%. The model predicted that total belowground C (0–20 cm depth) in sands would be approximately half that of the clays, in contrast to the 89% we measured. This discrepancy is likely to be due to an underestimation of the role of belowground C allocation with low litter quality in sands, as well as an overestimation of the role of physical C protection by clays in this ecosystem. Changes in P and water availability had little effect on model outputs, whereas adding N greatly increased soil organic matter pools and productivity, illustrating the need for further integration of model structure and tropical forest biogeochemical cycling.
The ecohydrological role of soil texture in a water-limited ecosystem (TOC,Volume 37, Issue 12,December 2001 ,Pages 2863–2872)
Abstract : Soil texture is a key variable in the coupled relationship between climate, soil, and vegetation. This coupling and its dependence on soil texture are studied in this paper using analytical descriptions for soil moisture dynamics and the corresponding vegetation water stress. Results confirm the importance of soil texture in partitioning rainfall into the mean values of the water balance loss components, namely, evapotranspiration, leakage, and runoff, and in determining vegetation water stress for the vegetation and climatic regimes of the La Copita Research Area in Texas. Two separate mechanisms by which this sensitivity to soil texture can impact the ecological structure at La Copita are illustrated. First, dynamics similar to the inverse texture effect, whereby the optimal soil texture for a given vegetation type changes with rainfall amount, are demonstrated for the two most common species at this site. Second, it is shown that soil texture plays a major role in the modulation of the impact that interannual rainfall fluctuations have on the fitness and coexistence of trees and grasses.
I dont know why this doubt that the soil texture affects the environment. They are part of our natural system and we have to adjust our activities for its characteristic features. Actually all the type of soils have its own importance. Effect of soil property depends on our field of activities and in which context we are addressing . For paddy cultivation, clayey soil is preferred, where as for ground water development sandy formations are preferred. In reservoirs, silt and clay are considered as negative/disturbing factors, as they reduce the water holding capacity. Hence one can not generalise that soil texture negatively affects our environment. It is purely contextual.
Difficult to respond to such questions. I agree to what explained by Dr. N B Narasimha Prasad .
Landry Mamberi The questions makes me wonder whether your understanding regarding soil as a part of environment or ecosystem is correct. Please try to understand the basics of soils before applying its role to other services.
Hi. So broad.
1. Erosion based on geological sorting- clay would be transported further than sand.
2. Percolation-You expect higher ksat in sand than in clay, ceteris paribus
3. Leaching of contaminants- more on sand than clay.
4. Foothold for plant roots- clay holding crops more firmly than sand
.......so broad. See literature
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