DP Environmental Systems and Societies Questionbank

Describe two characteristics of soil with high primary productivity.

Identify one example of an output to the atmosphere from the soil system.

Construct a labelled flow diagram to show the processes that link soil with the following three storages:

The atmosphere
The lithosphere
Living organisms

Annotate each labelled flow with an example of the matter involved.

Identify two features of a loam soil that make it suitable for crop growth.

Outline four ways in which the differences between sand and clay soils may affect primary productivity.

Outline one climatic and one edaphic (soil) factor which affect the final climax community in an ecosystem.

Outline two ways in which the soil quality in the pioneer stages of the succession model shown in Figure 1 will differ from that in the climax ecosystem.

Outline two reasons why loam soils are the most productive for plant growth.

Outline how soil can be viewed as an ecosystem.

Identify one other output from the mineral storage in the “A” horizon in Figure 2(b).

Identify one other input to the mineral storage in the “A” horizon in Figure 2(b).

Draw a flow diagram to show the flows of leaching and decomposition associated with the mineral storage in the “A” horizon in Figure 2(b).

Describe how the addition of sand to a silty clay loam could alter its characteristics for healthy plant growth.

State the soil texture that has the following composition: 20 % clay; 55 % silt; 25 % sand.

The soil system includes storages of inorganic nutrients.

Identify two outputs from these storages.

The soil system includes storages of inorganic nutrients.

Identify two inputs to these storages.