Agronomic Glossary

• Nitrification – Microbial oxidation of ammonium nitrogen to nitrites and eventually to nitrates.

• Organic Matter – Residual decomposition of plant or animal content in soil.

• Osmosis – Diffusion of water or any solvent (pure liquid) from a region of greater water potential to one of lesser water potential across a selectively permeable membrane.

• Osmotic Potential – Change in chemical potential (or free energy) of water produced by solutes being added to it.

• Oxidation – Loss of an electron by an atom or molecule where oxygen is the electron acceptor.

• Peat – Partially decomposed organic matter accumulating under wet conditions.

• Percolation Rate – Downward movement of water through a soil profile.

• pH – Degree of acidity or alkalinity. Defined as the negative logarithm of hydrogen ion activity. A scale of 0 to 14 is used where 7 is neutral, below 7 is acidic and above 7 is alkaline.

• Sewage Sludge – Settled sewage solids removed by screening, sedimentation, chemical precipitation, or bacterial digestion.

• Soil – Upper layer of Earth’s surface used as the natural medium for plant growth.

• Solute – A molecule dissolved in a solution.

• Thatch – Brown to black colored layer of dead turfgrass plant leaves, stems, rhizomes, crowns, and stolons between the green colored vegetation and the soil surface.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6