5.3 Soil Degradation & Conservation

Significant Ideas:

• Fertile soils require significant time to develop through the process of succession.

• Human activities may reduce soil fertility and increase soil erosion.

• Soil conservation strategies exist and may be used to preserve soil fertility and reduce soil erosion.

Applications & Skills:

• Explain the relationship between soil ecosystem succession and soil fertility.

• Discuss the influences of human activities on soil fertility and soil erosion.

• Evaluate the soil management strategies of a given commercial farming system and of a given subsistence farming system.