The Soil as a Reactor

Viac o knihe

To address the urgent economic and ecological challenges in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and the management of waste land and industrial emissions, a deep understanding of soil processes is essential. Ideally, these processes should be quantitatively analyzed, similar to methods used by civil engineers to maximize plant yield. However, pursuing maximum profit through yield can lead to improper soil usage, as soils are vulnerable and can be degraded despite increased food production in industrialized agriculture. This text focuses on methodology, beginning with the components of soil and their physical parameters, alongside mathematical models for transport and transformation processes. Each chapter includes simple simulation models for practical applications. The main sections cover heat conduction and the behavior of material components like gases, water, and ions, followed by models illustrating nutrient, herbicide, and heavy metal dynamics in soil, demonstrating how modeling aids environmental protection. The concluding chapter addresses salt transport in heterogeneous soils. This work is aimed at scientists and students interested in applied soil science, including applied pedologists, ecologists, agriculturalists, and geoscientists, emphasizing the careful and effective use of soils for plant growth.