Talk:Soil Environment

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One of the picture used in the content "Microbio Activity" need the descrition or reference for the picture. Also, for the physical factor, will the geographic location also be considered as one of them? Feili 15:40, 22 March 2008 (UTC)


I got confused by the sentence "Soils that are coarse textured are less likely to have a well-defined structure and therefore fewer structured pore space than s soil high in clay content.S. carpocapsae (diameter=25um) move more in fine sandy loam soil than in clay soil.[5]" is S. Carpocapse a bacteia? what does the first s stand for? Alorloff 06:40, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm wondering about the first sentence of the introduction? I'm not sure if is a typo? What about nutrients? Great pictures! Heather

Maybe you could also add factors that affect CEC capacity, and which ionic species are more tightly held, and therefore less available for microbes or transport through the soil. Jmmullane 06:06, 15 March 2008 (UTC)


You stated: "The CEC is the total amount of exchangeable cations that a soil can hold at a specific pH [1]. The positively charged soil particles allow for charged soil microorganisms (due to charged organic molecules) to be attracted or repelled from soil." This confused me because you say the soil particles are positively charged, but you also say that cations are exchanged. It is my understanding that the soil particles are negatively charged, providing them with the capacity to interact with cationic nutrients (CEC). Perhaps you could clarify that for me.Jmmullane 05:59, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

You're right, soil is negatively charged. Don't know how that got past me. Thanks so much.Kjmuzikar 03:09, 20 March 2008 (UTC)


I think you are missing one item for current research. In the current research section it would also be helpful if you provided a brief description of the research as opposed to just citing it.Jmmullane 05:48, 15 March 2008 (UTC)


Hey, now you can link to the rhizosphere page that our group has created! [user jbaumgartel]

It might be good to relate the information you have presented about soil texture back to the effect that it has on microbial life in the soil. [user jbaumgartel]

Great job you guys!! I saw a lot of detail and new information. The only thing I saw wrong was that I believe you need three new studies and I only saw two. [user bhsparks]


Soil water might be a subject worthy of a little more description. It seems like a rate limiting factor, one that governs microbial activity as well as mobility.

A link in your Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)section to the Rhizosphere page would be nice. Icclark 06:37, 14 March 2008 (UTC)


thanks for the tip--forgot about that one. Aebellows 23:35, 20 March 2008 (UTC)


To get a subscript, do this Njblackburn 04:51, 14 March 2008 (UTC) Great thanks. Didn't know that. Figured out superscript too!Kjmuzikar 05:21, 14 March 2008 (UTC)


In your intro you say "Microbial activity basically means the generation of microbial." microbial what?Njblackburn 04:45, 14 March 2008 (UTC)


Hi everybody- great job overall. I have listed a few suggestions for your site: In the CEC section, I’m pretty sure soils (mineral surfaces) are negatively charged and microbes are positively charged. –It might be a good idea to just briefly define under each section soil texture, soil pores, and soil structure.—for the soil water section, you may want to include that it is a necessary habitat for some microbes (which types?).—for the temperature section, you have described Q10, you may want to introduce the term here.—You may want to combine the “soil structure” and “aggregate” section somehow.—You may want to change the section heading “PGRP” to just rhizobacteria, since you also have DRMO’s included in this section. I think some pictures would be great too. Heather

Good broad covering of the subject. One suggestion I would have is possibly taking the information under "Organism Intertaions" and making a distinct chart. That way it's visually pleasing and sets the information apart. kamackey

Maybe this could use some pictures? Maybe the organisms u talked about, or the rhizobia. Just something to make it pretty. -David La ````Dtla 02:45, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I have heard that anion exchange capacity (not as significant as cec) can play a role in soil environments. If true you may want to add a short section regarding this.Njppatel 18:36, 13 March 2008 (UTC)


Also you may want to add a section about how aggregates get formed, other than that the information is greatNjppatel 18:36, 13 March 2008 (UTC)


A suggestion: since you are looking at soil environ/physic factors, rather than a specific cycle or special environment, you get to be more creative with your relevant organisms. Some that I can think of, though, are ones that build soil structure (e.g. make polysaccharides, hyphae formers), as well as those extemophiles that tolerate really low and high pH, low and high temperature, osmotic extemists. Should be fun. Kate Scow 01:59, 10 March 2008 (UTC)


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I suggest replacing microflora with "interactions with other microorganisms".----Kate Scow


Bioavailability :

Definition of bioavailability is not quite right. You can go to book and lecture notes, or other sites, and develop better definition.---Kate


It seems your section on relevant microorganisms has disappeared. Please add it back and complete that part of the assignment. Irina C 02:42, 25 February 2008 (UTC)


Another thing, make sure to note down the sources of your information on the page as you write. You can format and link them as proper references later, but don't add any information without a citation to the source.

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Irina C 18:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)


Hi soil environment group. Please use section formats as in the template. You're the first group to start! great!!

Irina C 04:58, 28 January 2008 (UTC)