Week 7 - Aeration

Question 1

Explain the factors which affect the movement of air into and through soil.

Question 2

Explain why the movement of air is more restricted in a clay loam soil with a total porosity of 50% than in a sandy soil with a total porosity of only 30%.

Question 3

Explain five effects of low oxygen condition on plant roots.

Question 4

List three (3) soil properties that influence the resistance to air movement in soil.

Question 5

Explain why the CO2 concentration in soil is higher than in the air above ground.

Question 6

Explain how air movement through soils can be improved.

Question 7

Outline, giving examples, the changes in nutrient availability that occur under conditions of poor soil aeration.

Question 8

Explain how the effects of poor aeration influence the available nutrient concentrations in soils through changes in microbial respiration.

Question 9

Explain why in spring, actively growing crops in low lying paddocks may go yellow several days after heavy rainfall.