ATI Soils

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ATI Soils

Lesson Outline

Faculty/Instructor

Deana Namuth-Covert
Professor, Director of Online Education and Outreach, The Ohio State University; Agronomy & Horticulture Adjunct Professor, University of Nebraska
dcovert2@unl.edu

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Soils - Part 3: Soil Organic Matter

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In this lesson, you will learn such terms as organic, soil organic matter, nutrient, decomposition, humus, compost, and soil structure. In addition, you will be able to predict the effect of land uses on soil organic matter including the effects of different types of vegetation.

[This lesson, as well as the other nine lessons in the Soils series, is taken from the "Soils Home Study Course," published in 1999 by the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension.]

Introduction

Why do we care so much about soil organic matter? Is it some vague favorable connection with organic farming? What does the term “organic” mean in a scientific sense? Fortunately, our instinct that soil organic matter is a good thing is well-founded. Under most circumstances, soils with more organic matter are superior to those with less. The reasons for this may not always be the same, but that only makes it all the more important to understand as many of the implications of soil organic matter content as possible.

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This project was supported in part by the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants CAP project 2011-68002-30029 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, adminstered by the University of California-Davis and by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Undergraduate Education, National SMETE Digital Library Program, Award #0938034, administered by the University of Nebraska. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USDA or NSF.

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