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Resource: used or used up in processes

Nutrients

Appears in 16 processs and 20 steps. Everything below is linked: open a process to see it in context.

Top processes

Plant-soil feedback and species coexistence

4 steps

Biological soil crusts: cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses on dryland surfaces

2 steps

Crusts raise the threshold wind speed for erosion and trap dust that carries nutrients
Crust loss lets wind erosion bury and abrade remaining crust, increasing dust and lowering soil fertility

Living soil system

1 step

Roots and rhizosphere

Cation exchange, pH and soil solution chemistry

1 step

Soil solution composition sets nutrient availability and Al toxicity

Roots and rhizosphere

1 step

Root growth and elongation into soil

Ocean carbon exchange and burial

1 step

Upwelling returns carbon-rich deep water to the surface

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Mycorrhizal fungi network

1 step

Common mycorrhizal network links plants

Soil production and erosion balance

1 step

Thin soil holds less water and nutrient, so cover and biomass decline

Sequential soil pH buffer systems

1 step

Al3+ damages root tips and microbes, lowering uptake and biological activity

Biochar and charcoal in soil

1 step

Soil and char type decide the response

Soil-plant-water coupling and drought response

1 step

Redistributed water supports shallow roots, mycorrhizae and nutrient uptake

Wind erosion and dust emission from dry soil

1 step

Topsoil loses its finest, most organic and nutrient-rich fraction; remaining soil coarsens and holds less water

Common mycorrhizal networks: what the evidence supports and what it does not

1 step

Seedlings connected to mature trees survived or grew better in some field experiments

Organism-environment interactions

1 step

Plant-soil feedback and species coexistence

Ecosystem engineering feedbacks

1 step

Modified habitat supports more of the engineer or its helpers

Vegetation-water feedback and dryland patchiness

1 step

Run-off collects in remaining patches, so vegetation self-organises into bands or spots

Often found with

Plants 7 Water 6 Carbon 5 Soil microbes 5 Mycorrhizal fungi 5 Plant roots 4 Soil 3 Wind 3 Aluminum 2 Hydrogen ions 2 Soil organic matter 2 Dust 2

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