| Abstract from DBPedia | In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Latin word for "earth" or "ground". In agriculture, "humus" sometimes also is used to describe mature or natural compost extracted from a woodland or other spontaneous source for use as a soil conditioner. It is also used to describe a topsoil horizon that contains organic matter (humus type, humus form, or humus profile). Humus has many nutrients that improve the health of soil, nitrogen being the most important. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N) of humus commonly ranges between eight and fifteen with the median being about twelve. It also significantly affects the bulk density of soil. Humus is amorphous and lacks the "cellular cake structure characteristic of plants, micro-organisms or animals".腐植土（ふしょくど、英: humic/humus soil）とは、腐植を豊かに含む、黒く軽鬆な土壌のことである。 腐植土と腐葉土（ふようど、英: leaf mold）は、同様に扱う文献もあるが、前者は主に土壌を指し、後者は主に林床で腐熟したや落葉堆肥を指す。 (Source: http://dbpedia.org/resource/Humus) |
