Soil organic matter parameter video transcript

Organic matter is an important part of soils physical, chemical and biological factors. Organic matter comprises all living soil organisms and all the remains of previous living organisms.

To measure the level of organic content of the soil at Longneck Lagoon EEC, you will need a dimpled mixing tray, trowel and hydrogen peroxide.

As this is a chemical test, you are required to wear gloves and safety glasses.

Use your trowel to scrape away any leaf litter from your sampling spot.

Dig a small hole and remove some of the soil. Remove any small stones, twigs or other material from your soil sample and place the soil in one of the dimples on your tray.

Place 4-5 drops of hydrogen peroxide on the sample.

High organic content will cause the soil sample to bubble at a high level, low organic content such as this will result in very little bubbling.

To clean up after this test, you will need to wash the soil and chemicals off the mixing tray in the chemical waste container. Make sure you are still wearing gloves and glasses while you wash up. Give the mixing tray a shake to dry off and repack all the equipment into the black case.