Science · 6 pages · 12 min
How humus changes a soil
Humus glues mineral grains into crumbs that hold water, air, and nutrient ions.
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From the opening
Humus is the dark, partly decayed organic matter left after microbes have broken residues into material that resists further decay for a while. It changes soil by binding particles into aggregates and by holding water and nutrient ions on its surfaces. The opening covers stable residue, not fresh litter, crumbs that hold water and air, and charged surfaces that store ions.
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Inside
- Stable residue, not fresh litter
- Crumbs that hold water and air
- Charged surfaces that store ions
- Why the store can shrink
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Soil organic matter and aggregate structure
- Cation exchange on humus