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Competency Area 1: Basic Concepts of Soil Fertility

Summary

  • Minerals are provided to plants through soil content, plant residues, organic matter, and applied nutrients.  Soil characteristics such as texture, pH, and temperature affect the form and availability of nutrients.
  • The nitrogen cycle is an example of how different soil conditions and processes change the form of N, which may increase or decrease the availability of the N to plants, and may contribute to environmental loss.