The effects of different types of land-use on the soil

Abstract

The purpose of this literature review is to outline the effects that different land-uses can have on the soil. Soil health is defined as the capacity of the soil to function as a vital ecosystem that is able to sustain plants, animals, and humans. The first section of this review covers the soil’s ability to support all these ecological functions thanks to its fundamental constituents such as its organic content, chemical nutrients, physical characteristics, moisture, microbial diversity and cation exchange capacity. The second and third sections discuss the use of the land for agriculture and forests respectively. The type of agriculture featured in the second section is industrial agriculture and its negative effects on the soil are thanks to monocropping and pesticides are discussed. The third section covers the naturally occurring growth of forests and what kind of effects that can have on the soil which are for the most part ecologically positive(Supports carbon fixation, biodiversity, and prevents erosion).