Influence of Clay Minerals on Some Soil Fertility Attributes: A Review
Open Access
- 1 January 2019
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. in Open Journal of Soil Science
- Vol. 09 (09), 155-188
- https://doi.org/10.4236/ojss.2019.99010
Abstract
Clay minerals constitute an important component of the soil system and knowledge of their role in soil fertility is imperative for sustainable soil management and productivity. The aim of this work is to overview the influence of clay minerals on some major soil fertility attributes. The rationale for carrying out this work is that most soil fertility studies rarely incorporate soil mineralogy. Clay minerals, through their physical and chemical properties, affect soil fertility by controlling nutrient supplies and availability, through the sequestration and stabilization of soil organic matter, by controlling soil physical properties through microaggregate formation, by influencing soil acidity and controlling soil microbial population and activity. The main processes involved in these relationships are dissolution-precipitation and adsorption-desorption processes, alongside mechanisms involving the formation of short-range-ordered phases. Although the determination of soil mineralogical properties is very costly and time-consuming, information about a soil’s mineralogy is imperative for a holistic understanding and proper management of soil fertility. Therefore, the development of rapid, low-cost, reliable and efficient techniques of soil mineralogical analysis, directly applicable to soil fertility investigations, constitutes a major challenge. Also, future research should investigate the relationships between clay minerals and soil nitrogen vis-à-vis sequestration and stabilization. Lastly, clay minerals should be considered in studies dealing with soil quality assessment, especially in the choice of soil quality indicators.Keywords
This publication has 100 references indexed in Scilit:
- Efficient soil microorganisms: A new dimension for sustainable agriculture and environmental developmentAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2011
- Interactions between mineral phases in the preservation of soil organic matterGeoderma, 2006
- Weathering controls on mechanisms of carbon storage in grassland soilsGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles, 2004
- Soil quality: why and how?Geoderma, 2003
- Nitrogen in rock: Occurrences and biogeochemical implicationsGlobal Biogeochemical Cycles, 2002
- Relationships among soil carbon distributions and biophysical factors at nested spatial scales in rain forests of northeastern Costa RicaGeoderma, 2002
- Amount and composition of clay-associated soil organic matter in a range of kaolinitic and smectitic soilsGeoderma, 2001
- Litter decomposition and organic matter turnover in northern forest soilsForest Ecology and Management, 2000
- Mechanisms for aluminum release in Chinese acid forest soilsGeoderma, 1999
- Soil clay mineralogy in relation to fertility management: Effect of soil clay mineral composition on potassium fixation under conditions of upland rice soilsNutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 1981