Q45. Response time for soil biology to bounce back after disturbance/bad practices/drought?

Answer: Answer: Response time for recovery of soil biology depends largely on the population of soil
microbes before the adverse conditions impacted on the soil. A soil that been misused, such
as use of chemical salts as fertiliser, herbicides, over cultivation or over grazing in the case
of pastures, compaction through trafficking or too many animals, will leave the depleted of
diverse soil microbes and recovery will be slow if ever under that system.
In contrast, a soil that has been treated biologically will have a diverse soil microbial
population, good grass cover with diverse species, few if any weedy species, good water
holding capacity because of the higher organic matter in and on the soil and little or no
compaction. The large and diverse soil microbial population will come back very quickly after
an adverse event because it is returning from a high base.

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