Soil Function | Soil Genesis and Development, Scenario 3 - Soils and Salts

Let’s return to the question of recreating this saline wetland in a different location, allowing a developer to fill or drain the existing wetland and put it to other uses such as housing. Soils have multiple ecosystem functions. These ecosystems can be summarized as:

medium for plant growth
regulator of water supplies
recycler of raw materials
habitat for soil organisms
landscaping and engineering medium

Quiz

Question

Question 17: Which of these functions is essential to the developer’s intended use of the land‏?

medium for plant growth

This would be a concern to a plant ecologist, and only marginally to the developer for landscaping.

regulator for landscaping

This would be a concern to a hydrologist or urban planner.

recycler of raw materials

This would be a concern to a soil biologist or waste management specialist.

habitat for soil organisms

This would be a concern to an ecologist.

landscaping and engineering medium

A developer must be aware of site properties that might enhance potential for urban uses or make them more difficult.

Looks Good! A developer must be aware of site properties that might enhance potential for urban uses or make them more difficult.

To review this concept click on the links: Soil Genesis and Development Lesson 6.2