The rates of nitrogen accumulation

 1. Nature stacks nitrogen

As ecosystems evolve, from bare ground or rock, through some pioneer plants, to grassland, shrubbery, and finally forest, vegetation grows. Through this plant growth, the ecosystem fixes carbon and nitrogen – first in plant material, and then in the soil, via dead plant roots and above-ground plant parts. Stable organic matter in the soil is formed because micro-organisms process plant material, after which the remains thereof bind to soil particles. An old ecosystem therefore usually has much more soil organic matter than a young ecosystem. If this development has taken place on bare ground, we call this process primary succession. If it takes place on land that has already been vegetated, for example agricultural land that has been abandoned, we call this process secondary succession.

food log.

This is in short how the discussion about soil and nitrogen in particular is conducted. Were it not that plant growth in general, fixes both nitrogen and carbon, plus minerals are in their plant. They can't do otherwise. They grow because these substances are present, in other words, they simply do not grow due to lack. But that says nothing, or everything, about the human being who also plays an important role in this, viz. by the emission of nitrogen, but that cannot be done otherwise. Because where humans are, there is also nitrogen and more chemicals. The moment man entered the natural world, he was no longer an animal, but, through his cleverness and insight into technology, he brought his (un)natural waste with him, precisely because of that cleverness and that technology. A simple spoon, to stir something, is already technique. But making that spoon, which is an extension of his hand, is labor and that entails technology and waste.

So technology entered with humanity, and nature was unprepared for it, had no answer for it. And these two things are now intertwined. Nature has no answer to man, and man does not know what to do with the changes that are now taking place in nature. The soil is analyzed and an increase of nitrogen takes place, and as a result plants grow faster (but a one-sided growth, based on nitrogen, the plant does not have more minerals at its disposal, because the soil life is not adapted to it) , displacing the vegetation that would normally grow there. So the natural habitat cannot respond to this. So there is a lot going on, more than just an excess of nitrogen. Because nitrogen also has its effect in the soil. And not, because nitrogen is only too much, but it also disturbs the soil life, which in the form of bacterial action must provide the plants with minerals and use the food with carbon to do this. So there is a clear displacement effect by the nitrogen, but the plant growth that would normally be there is also disturbed. An enrichment thus takes place (by nitrogen) and e.g. the heath, is displaced by plants that people do not want there. Man is the culprit, but not because he is directly guilty of it right now, but because he is smart and technical, and can't deal with nature, and nature doesn't have the ability to take man into account. . What to do? If all goes well it will resolve itself, but how, is the question?

Hendrik.