Editing Soil (section)

===Climatological influence===
The production, accumulation and degradation of organic matter are greatly dependent on climate. For example, when a [[Thaw (weather)|thawing]] event occurs, the flux of [[soil gas]]es with atmospheric gases is significantly influenced.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Dong Jim |last2=Vargas |first2=Rodrigo |last3=Bond-Lamberty |first3=Ben |last4=Turetsky |first4=Merritt R. |title=Effects of soil rewetting and thawing on soil gas fluxes: a review of current literature and suggestions for future research |journal=[[Biogeosciences]] |year=2012 |volume=9 |issue=7 |pages=2459–83 |doi=10.5194/bg-9-2459-2012 |bibcode=2012BGeo....9.2459K |doi-access=free }}</ref> Temperature, soil moisture and [[topography]] are the major factors affecting the accumulation of organic matter in soils. Organic matter tends to accumulate under wet or cold conditions where [[decomposer]] activity is impeded by low temperature<ref name="Wagai2008">{{cite journal |last1=Wagai |first1=Rota |last2=Mayer |first2=Lawrence M. |last3=Kitayama |first3=Kanehiro |last4=Knicker |first4=Heike |year=2008 |title=Climate and parent material controls on organic matter storage in surface soils: a three-pool, density-separation approach |journal=Geoderma |volume=147 |issue=1–2 |pages=23–33 |doi=10.1016/j.geoderma.2008.07.010 |bibcode=2008Geode.147...23W |url=https://www.academia.edu/20165844 |access-date=4 May 2025 }}</ref> or excess moisture which results in anaerobic conditions.<ref name="Minayeva2008">{{cite journal |last1=Minayeva |first1=Tatiana Y. |last2=Trofimov |first2=Sergey Ya. |last3=Chichagova |first3=Olga A. |last4=Dorofeyeva |first4=E. I. |last5=Sirin |first5=Andrey A. |last6=Glushkov |first6=Igor V. |last7=Mikhailov |first7=N. D. |last8=Kromer |first8=Bernd |year=2008 |title=Carbon accumulation in soils of forest and bog ecosystems of southern Valdai in the Holocene |journal=Biology Bulletin |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=524–32 |doi=10.1134/S1062359008050142 |bibcode=2008BioBu..35..524M |s2cid=40927739 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225229436 |access-date=4 May 2025 }}</ref> Conversely, excessive rain and high temperatures of tropical climates enables rapid decomposition of organic matter and leaching of plant nutrients. Forest ecosystems on these soils rely on efficient recycling of nutrients and plant matter by the living plant and microbial biomass to maintain their productivity, a process which is disturbed by human activities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vitousek |first1=Peter M. |last2=Sanford |first2=Robert L. |title=Nutrient cycling in moist tropical forest |journal=[[Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics]] |year=1986 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=137–67 |doi=10.1146/annurev.es.17.110186.001033 |bibcode=1986AnRES..17..137V |s2cid=55212899 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234150505 |access-date=4 May 2025 }}</ref> Excessive slope, in particular in the presence of cultivation for the sake of agriculture, may encourage the erosion of the top layer of soil which holds most of the raw organic material that would otherwise eventually become humus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rumpel |first1=Cornelia |last2=Chaplot |first2=Vincent |last3=Planchon |first3=Olivier |last4=Bernadou |first4=J. |last5=Valentin |first5=Christian |last6=Mariotti |first6=André |title=Preferential erosion of black carbon on steep slopes with slash and burn agriculture |journal=Catena |year=2006 |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=30–40 |url=https://www.academia.edu/14788543 |doi=10.1016/j.catena.2005.09.005 |bibcode=2006Caten..65...30R |access-date=4 May 2025 }}</ref>