|
Sheet Composting
In permaculture, sheet mulching is an agricultural no-dig gardening technique that attempts to mimic the natural soil-building process in forests. When deployed properly and in combination with other permaculture principles, it can generate healthy, productive, and low maintenance ecosystems. Sheet mulching, also known as compost , composting in place, mimics nature by breaking down organic material from the topmost layers down. The simplest form of sheet mulching consists of applying a bottom layer of decomposable material, such as cardboard or newspapers, to the ground to kill existing vegetation and suppress weeds. Then, a top layer of organic mulch is applied. More elaborate sheet mulching involves more layers. Sheet mulching is used to transform a variety of surfaces into a fertile soil that can be planted. Sheet mulching can be applied to a lawn, a dirt lot full of perennial weeds, an area with poor soil, or even pavement or a rooftop. Technique A model for sheet mulchi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compost
Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and manure. The resulting mixture is rich in plant nutrients and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and fungi. Compost improves soil fertility in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture, and organic farming, reducing dependency on commercial chemical fertilizers. The benefits of compost include providing nutrients to crops as fertilizer, acting as a soil conditioner, increasing the humus or Humic acids, humic acid contents of the soil, and introducing beneficial microbes that help to suppress pathogens in the soil and reduce soil-borne diseases. At the simplest level, composting requires gathering a mix of green waste (nitrogen-rich materials such as leaves, grass, and food scraps) and brown waste (woody ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Termites
Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the soft-bodied, unpigmented worker caste for which they have been commonly termed "white ants"; however, they are not ants but highly derived cockroaches. About 2,997 extant species are currently described, 2,125 of which are members of the family Termitidae. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattodea (the cockroaches). Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from cockroaches, as they are deeply nested within the group, and the sister group to wood-eating cockroaches of the genus '' Cryptocercus''. Previous estimates suggested the divergence took place during the Jurassic or Triassic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Seed Bank
The soil seed bank is the natural storage of seeds, often dormant, within the soil of most ecosystems. The study of soil seed banks started in 1859 when Charles Darwin observed the emergence of seedlings using soil samples from the bottom of a lake. The first scientific paper on the subject was published in 1882 and reported on the occurrence of seeds at different soil depths. Weed seed banks have been studied intensely in agricultural science because of their important economic impacts; other fields interested in soil seed banks include forest regeneration and restoration ecology. Henry David Thoreau wrote that the contemporary popular belief explaining the succession of a logged forest, specifically to trees of a dissimilar species to the trees cut down, was that seeds either spontaneously generated in the soil, or sprouted after lying dormant for centuries. However, he dismissed this idea, noting that heavy nuts unsuited for distribution by wind were distributed instead by an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bindweed
Bindweed may refer to: * Some species of Convolvulaceae (bindweed family or morning glory family): ** ''Calystegia'' (bindweed, false bindweed, morning glory), a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants ** ''Convolvulus'' (bindweed, morning glory), a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants ** ''Polymeria calycina'', slender bindweed, native to Australia * ''Dioscorea communis'', black bindweed * ''Fallopia convolvulus'', black bindweed, a fast-growing annual flowering plant * ''Solanum dulcamara'', blue bindweed {{Plant common name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynodon Dactylon
''Cynodon dactylon'', commonly known as Bermuda grass, also known as couch grass in Australia and New Zealand, is a grass found worldwide. It is native to Europe, Africa, Australia and much of Asia. It has been introduced to the Americas. Contrary to its common name, it is not native to Bermuda and is in fact an abundant invasive species there. In Bermuda it has been known as "crab grass" (also a name for ''Digitaria sanguinalis''). Other names are ''Dhoob'', ''dūrvā'' grass, ''ethana'' grass, ''dubo'', dog grass, dog's tooth grass, Bahama grass, crab grass, devil's grass, couch grass, Indian ''doab'', ''arugampul'', grama, wiregrass and scutch grass. Hybrid species of Cynodon dactylon have been produced known as Cynodon dactylon x transvaalensis. These are Interspecific hybrids from cross-pollination of plants of different species. Vegetatively propagated Bermuda/couch hybrid varieties are developed by a selection of superior plants from established seeded or vegetatively prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting Alaska, the city lies between the steeply rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean, and the city has been dubbed "The American Riviera". According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 88,665. In addition to being a popular tourist and resort destination, the city has a diverse economy that includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government. In 2004, the service sector accounted for 35% of local employment. Area institutions of higher learning include the University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College, Westmont Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all pesticide use globally. Most pesticides are used as plant protection products (also known as crop protection products), which in general protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium, or fungus) that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that destroy property, cause nuisance, spread disease, or are disease vectors. Along with these benefits, pesticides also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species. Definition The word pesticide derives from the Latin ''pestis'' (plagu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, transports it to another location where it is deposit (geology), deposited. Erosion is distinct from weathering which involves no movement. Removal of rock or soil as clastic sediment is referred to as ''physical'' or ''mechanical'' erosion; this contrasts with ''chemical'' erosion, where soil or rock material is removed from an area by Solvation, dissolution. Eroded sediment or solutes may be transported just a few millimetres, or for thousands of kilometres. Agents of erosion include rainfall; bedrock wear in rivers; coastal erosion by the sea and Wind wave, waves; glacier, glacial Plucking (glaciation), plucking, Abrasion (geology), abrasion, and scour; areal flooding; Aeolian processes, wind abrasion; groundwater processes; and Mass wastin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Life
Soil biology is the study of Soil microbiology, microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their biological life cycle, life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-plant litter, litter interface. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes), and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, mole (animal), moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics. The decomposition of soil organic matter, organic matter by soil organisms has an immense influence on soil fertility, plant development, plant growth, soil structure, and carbon cycle, carbon storage. As a relatively new science, much remains unknown about soil biology and its effect on soil ecosystems. Overview The soil is home to a large propo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil Structure
In geotechnical engineering, soil structure describes the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and of the Pore space in soil, pore space located between them. It is determined by how individual soil granules clump, bind together, and Soil aggregate stability, aggregate, resulting in the arrangement of soil Pore space in soil, pores between them. Soil has a major influence on water and air movement, Soil microbiology, biological activity, root growth and seedling emergence. There are several different types of soil structure. It is inherently a dynamic and complex system that is affected by different biotic and abiotic factors. Overview Soil structure describes the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and of the pore spaces located between them. Aggregation is the result of the interaction of soil particles through rearrangement, flocculation and Cementation (geology), cementation. It is enhanced by: the precipitation of Oxide, oxides, hydroxides, Carbonate, carbonate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biochemical Cycle
A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle. In each cycle, the chemical element or molecule is transformed and cycled by living organisms and through various geological forms and reservoirs, including the atmosphere, the soil and the oceans. It can be thought of as the pathway by which a chemical substance cycles (is turned over or moves through) the biotic compartment and the abiotic compartments of Earth. The biotic compartment is the biosphere and the abiotic compartments are the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. For example, in the carbon cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis, which converts it into organic compounds that are used by organisms for energy and growth. Carbon is then relea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
