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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #403683
Research Project: Sustainable Intensification in Agricultural Watersheds through Optimized Management and Technology

Location: Agroecosystems Management Research

Title: Soil energetics: An introduction

Author
item PHILO, ALLEN - Biostar Renewables
item Wacha, Kenneth - Ken
item HATFIELD, JERRY - Retired ARS Employee

Submitted to: Acres USA
Publication Type: Popular Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2023
Publication Date: 6/1/2023
Citation: Philo, A., Wacha, K.M., Hatfield, J.L. 2023. Soil energetics. Acres USA. https://bookstore.acresusa.com/products/august-2023-issue-pdf.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Why do soils degrade? How do degraded soils regain structure and function? Can such changes be predicted? These are some seemingly basic questions regarding soils, and particularly agricultural soils. The answers to these questions can have direct impacts on how we steward our land and grow food. Quantifying and tracking the movement of energy into and out of soils is a new concept which can help answer these questions. In agricultural systems, soil has four primary functions: supply water; supply nutrients; allow for adequate gas exchange; and provide physical support for the plant. Soil aggregation/degradation processes are highly dynamic, and the driving mechanisms have not been well understood. This uncertainty is due in part to the approach that soil science has taken in addressing these questions. Until recently sciences' approach to soil has utilized mechanistic models to describe physical changes in soil structure, pointing primarily to organic matter content, clay mineralogy or base exchange ratios as the driving factors. It wasn’t until science started treating soils as living systems and recognized the importance of microbiology and its role in cycling nutrients, in microbial-plant interactions, and in the highly interconnected soil food web, that we began to unravel the dynamics of how soil physical, chemical, and biological processes interacted. Even in recognizing soils as a living system, the primary role of microbiology in creating and maintaining soil structure has not been fully recognized or quantified. Surprisingly, even though science has begun treating soils as a living system, we have not considered the vital thing that all living systems need to function: energy. It is the flow of energy through the soil and the positive or negative energy balances in the soil that determine whether soils will build or degrade.