Soil Health Basics & Benefits
Benefits of Creating & Managing Healthy Soil:
- Sustaining plant and animal life – The diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil.
- Filtering and buffering potential pollutants – The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials, including industrial and municipal by-products and atmospheric deposits.
- Cycling nutrients – Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and many other nutrients are stored, transformed, and cycled in the soil.
- Physical stability and support – Soil structure provides a medium for plant roots. Soils also provide support for human structures and protection for archaeological sites.
- Water conservation – Healthy soil saves water and increases drought tolerance by increasing filtration and water holding capacity as soil organic matter increases.
- Reduced disease/pest problems – Healthy soil is able to allow for better overall plant health making them stronger and better able to resist disease and pests.