Topsoil, should it be top dog?
There are so many things that can be looked into and researched when it comes to our planet and how to help its inhabitants that it is equally exciting and intimidating. (PS if you happen to be looking into a career path to follow, I feel like this might be a good one. There seems to be a large gap between what is being researched and how it is related/portrayed to the public sector.) All this is to say that I struggled with what to focus on today because everything is so interconnected and interesting I felt like I was bouncing all over the place. Ultimately I decided to focus on topsoil today. How boring? Well I disagree, I never could have realized that something that seems so boring at the surface (Ha!) could actually be so interesting and complex. Let’s dig in (hehehe) deeper shall we?
Topsoil
What is topsoil? That seems like a simple place to start but is also really complex. Topsoil, is quite literally the top layer of soil. In a healthy environment this will be approximately 2-10 inches deep. Topsoil is where a lot of the interesting stuff happens. In just one tablespoon of soil you can find more organisms than there are people on the earth. This is where soil fertility lies to allow most plants to survive. In topsoil you will find things like organic matter, microorganisms, air pockets, water, and nutrients. In healthy topsoil you will have water retention, carbon storage and flourishing life. In unhealthy topsoil, or the absence of topsoil, you can have things like nutrient pollution in water and erosion. I found when I was researching topsoil, most websites focused on purchasing topsoil, what the difference between topsoil and garden soil is and why you should buy either. There wasn’t quite as much about how you can improve your own topsoil and why you should. You may be asking yourself right now, what is so important about topsoil and why should I give a hoot? Topsoil allows us to grow our food; it allows us to retain water in our local watersheds, and it helps with storing carbon in soil.
Necessary Resource
Topsoil is important to plants as it provides the food, nutrition and water they need to grow. Soil currently provides us with 95-98.8% of the food we eat. We need to save our topsoil. Current studies show we lose about 24 billion tonnes, or 3.4 tonnes per every person on the planet, every year of fertile topsoil. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though; we are actually improving our numbers. 25 years ago our numbers were 40% higher than they are now. I know that we can improve these numbers even more by making some small but important changes.
Importance Of Topsoil
Topsoil also helps with water collection. For example, if you have hard compacted soil, when it rains the water hits the soil with very little absorption and runs off and into the nearest bed of water. When you have a healthy layer of topsoil there are little pockets of air throughout the soil, tunnels created by organisms and decaying root structures. Now when it rains the water will penetrate into the soil instead of running off the surface. This allows plants to be more drought tolerant as the water is in the soil and doesn’t evaporate off as quickly. On a larger scale, rainwater runoff can also create flooding. When the soil is healthy it has the ability to absorb significantly more water than unhealthy soil potentially aiding in the prevention of flooding. Topsoil helps sequester carbon in a similar fashion to water. As plants breathe they pull carbon from the air in the form of carbon dioxide. This carbon is stored in the plants leaves, stems and roots. The carbon that is stored in roots will be transferred into the soil during decomposition. Approximately 10% of the world’s carbon emissions are stored in soil. Animals that eat the leaves and stems will also transfer carbon into the soil from the plants when they die and decompose as well. Carbon stored in soil, if left undisturbed, can remain in the soil for tens of thousands of years. Healthy soil helps prevent drought, flooding, and stores carbon, how amazing is that?
Unrenewable or Renewable Resource
Most scientists believe and label soil as an unrenewable resource. While the Earth can create topsoil through a geological process utilizing weathered rocks, freezing and thawing, rain and occasionally the grinding motion of glaciers this process takes approximately a thousand years. Reasonably, that is not considerable renewable as it is not a beneficial process during a humans lifetime. However some scientists do believe that topsoil can become a renewable resource through what others consider unconventional processes. However, one could argue that it may be the most traditional way possible to create topsoil. The most basic explanation could be to reintroduce life into the soil. Try not to disrupt the soil as much as possible. The microorganisms that live in the soil are exceptionally small. You can completely destroy the network they have created by digging and tilling. While it is true that topsoil needs air pockets and water in order to be healthy. They need the small and narrow air pockets created through root systems and organism burrowing. When we till the earth it seems like we would be adding air, which initially we are, however as soon as any pressure, via rain, footprints, or animal activity, is placed on the soil the air pockets immediately crumble. Instead of destroying life through breaking up the ground try adding more organic matter on top. This can be through already decomposed organic matter such as compost or it can be from undecomposed organic matter such as leaves. This encourages life growth as it provides food into the natural process. Make sure you don’t leave any bare soil either. This helps with two things. It helps with water retention which is very important to the process. Water keeps organisms alive and building topsoil. It also prevents soil erosion. The plants’ root system will literally hold onto the soil so that it can’t wash or blow away. Potentially the easiest solution to topsoil is to not lose it in the first place. Going through this process can create healthy topsoil in a matter of years. While this might seem like a long time in the short run, remember the alternative is a thousand years.
I feel like I am leaving this topic a little abruptly but this topic is so complex and difficult to leave smoothly. I could easily cover several topics and still feel like I’m talking about topsoil. I promise I will cover them in future article and hopefully bring everything full circle. Until then
Stay positive and share positivity. Much Love
Additional Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsoil
https://www.onlinesoil.co.uk/knowledge-base/general-info/what-is-topsoil
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019315855
https://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/soil-fertility-and-erosion.html
https://scied.ucar.edu/carbon-cycle
https://www.permaculturenews.org/2017/08/23/top-soil-catalyst-better-health-nutrition/