[Terrapreta] TP and prairie soils

[David Yarrow]

what i teach in my soil fertility & trace elements workshop is that a fully developed, fully fertile soil has a nutrient recycling system at work.  

first, the roots of plants form a fine mesh network of roots, rootlets and root hairs at multiple levels.  some spread through the surface layers of organic matter.  others spread right along the soil surface.  still others like grasses spread thick mats a few inches under the surface.  still others penetrate at successively deeper layers, depending on the types of soil horizons present.  some plants like danelion, yellow dock and burdock send down deep taproots to mine subsoil minerals and lift them to the surface as new green growth.  other plants send thin fiber roots down anywhere from a few inches to several feet deep that then spread broadly around horinzontally.  for example, dogbane (a milkweed-looking relative) and bindweed are plants that spread a network up to six feet deep.

shrubs and trees also have these different types of root systems.  spruce and oak tend to spread out horizontally at or near the surface.  ash and maple are deep rooted.

in any complex plant community, this assortment of root system architectures forms a complex filtering system that captures minerals and other nutrients that are in solution and leaching downward through the soil.  the captured minerals are then sent back up the plant to feed new growth.  any such highly structured soil holds its nutrients and recycles them seasonally.  meanwhile, deeper roots are mining the subsoil for fresh minerals and adding them to the more surficial filtering and recycling structures.

but then this vegetative filtering and recycling system is augmented by soil fungi.  we now know that mycorrhyzae form associations with roots, actually growing inside the roots, while their threads of hyphae branch and spread out through the soil beyond the reach of the root.  these are not plant parasites or pathogens, but partners in the soil food web.  many other types of fungi form these symbiotic associations with plant roots.  

plants secrete sugars from their roots to feed the fungi -- as much as 20% of CO2 fixed into carbohydrates in plnt leaves are secreted by roots into the soil ecology's energy exchange economy.  meanwhile, the fungi scavenge minerals and water from the soil to feed the plant in a exchange for a bit of solar sweetness.  at the same time, many fungi are breaking down organic matter in the soil to add to the menu.  and fungi often also synthesize certain key trace and organic elements into critical biomolecules such as enzymes, vitamins, hormones, and similar regulatory substances.

then, this feeding web is extended and diversified further by bacteria that also cluster around the plant roots, sucking up sugars while repaying the plants with water and minerals.  while we have learned a bit about plant-fungi symbiosis, the even more microscopic world of bacteria is less well understood. even more than fungi, bacteria specialize in transforming trace elements into complex proteins and other specialized biomolecules, and into even more complex packages of ready-made cytoplasm and protoplasm.  

among my favorite is a bacteria that specializes in absorbing cobalt and synthesizing it into a large, complex, 3D, multi-ring molecule called cyanocobalamin = vitamin B12, with its highly toxic cyanide (CN) bond.  in plants, B12 moves sugar from the leaves to the roots.  in humans, cobalt's only known use is in B12, which performs several key functions such as red blood cell synthesis, nerve cell energy transfer, DNA replication, and pineal & pituitary hormone production.  

contrary to the common confusion, B12 is not made by animals, but only by this family of bacteria.  ruminating animals get their B12 by culturing this bacteria in their rumen. my particular fascination is that cobalt is one of the three naturally magnetic minerals.  see my article "to b12 or not to b12: is this vanishing vitamin a magnetic hormone?":
www.championtrees.org/yarrow/tob12.htm

so a healthy, fully fertile soil contains more organic matter as living biomass than as dead and decaying carbon skeletons.  unfortunately, we have only two crude ways to assess and measure this complex living community: soil respiration rates (oxygen consumption) or examination by microscope to count & classify the populations.

i learned some of this from dr. george earp-thomas, a soil research scientist from new zealand who operated a research farm in southern NJ from 1910 through the 40s.  earp-thomas' tracelyte (trace mineral electrolyte) saved my life after my 6000 volt electrocution, spinal injuries and damage from medical drugs, so i wrote up much of his story:
www.championtrees.org/topsoil/firewater.htm

thankfully, in our time, dr. elaine ingham of oregon state univ. has studied and highlighted this complex community of living organisms and tissues in soil, articulated her insights as the "soil food web," published a few books, and trained a small army of soil consultants:
www.soilfoodweb.com

of course, as soon as soil is plowed, this fine mesh network of roots, fungi and bacteria is ripped up and ruined, and this recycling system starts to disintegrate.  plowing also rips up earthworm and other channels and passages that allow water and air to penetrate soil.  and plowing exposes soil to heating and drying by sun and wind, which degrades its organic matter and organic life -- including accelerated oxidation of volatiles into outgases such as CO2, SO2, NO2, etc.

enough for now.  i'm grateful to have a stimulus to write a bit of this down.  maybe i can assemble and edit this, and add it to my website.  long overdue.

back to other chores.

David Yarrow
"If yer not forest, yer against us."
Turtle EyeLand Sanctuary
44 Gilligan Road, East Greenbush, NY 12061
dyarrow at nycap.rr.com
www.championtrees.org
www.OnondagaLakePeaceFestival.org
www.citizenre.com/dyarrow/
www.farmandfood.org
www.SeaAgri.com
 
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, 
if one only remembers to turn on the light."  
-Albus Dumbledore
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Sean K. Barry 
  To: David Yarrow 
  Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 6:00 PM
  Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] TP and prairie soils


  Hi David,

  So a 5-7' tall grass plant with 6'-10' perennial roots can sustain having its top half "smolder off", so its roots can get more nutrients?  The plants shed carbon, recycling it into the soil, to attract (or nurture) the nutrient grabbing soil microorganisms?

  SKB
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/terrapreta_bioenergylists.org/attachments/20070901/27c09b9b/attachment.html