Soil Carbon and Soil Health
Soil carbon improves the physical properties of soil. It increases the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and water-holding capacity of sandy soil, and it contributes to the structural stability of clay soils by helping to bind particles into aggregates. Soil organic matter, of which carbon is a major part, holds a great proportion of nutrients cations and trace elements that are of importance to plant growth. It prevents nutrient leaching and is integral to the organic acids that make minerals available to plants. It also buffers soil from strong changes in pH. It is widely accepted that the carbon content of soil is a major factor in its overall health.
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Famous quotes containing the words soil and/or health:
“No person who examines and reflects, can avoid seeing that there is but one race of people on the earth, who differ from each other only according to the soil and the climate in which they live.”
—J.G. (John Gabriel)
“To speak or do anything that shall concern mankind, one must speak and act as if well, or from that grain of health which he has left.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)