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Competency Area 2: Soil hydrology AEM

Summary

  • Water cycles through the environment as a solid, liquid, or gas through processes like precipitation, evaporation, transpiration, condensation, etc.  The additions or deletions of water due to these processes are considered the water "budget" for soil.
  • The rates at which the processes occur, and thus the rates at which water may enter or leave a given soil system, are dependent on factors both controllable and uncontrollable by humans.
  • Ecologists and farmers must consider the status of a soil (its structure, water content, etc) when planning practices like plowing, tilling, planting, or application of manure, fertilizer, or pesticides.