Question

What makes humus a reservoir of nutrients? Name and write about the process humus undergoes that enriches the soil.

Answer 1

Since humus is made up of organic materials and litter that are dispersed across the soil surface, including leaves, twigs, dead organisms, and their feces it serves as a reservoir of nutrients. Humus breaks down relatively slowly because it is immune to microbial activity. It functions as a nutrition reservoir due to its colloidal structure.

Microbes work to further break down the humus, which ultimately causes inorganic nutrients to be released into the soil. Mineralization is the process by which inorganic nutrients are released from the humus.