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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FROM LIVING PLANTS

It is important to understand that financial stability can
only be accomplished through ecological viability. Simply
said, “grow more green plants, if you want to be in the
black”. Growing more plants will require cover crops.
Our farms/ranches must run on new sunlight (capturing
solar energy with plants) not on ancient sunlight (petro-
leum-based inputs). Planting diverse cover crops are not
optional as these plant communities facilitate life! The
more you feed your soils with diverse plant communities,
the more ecosystem services the soil will provide, includ-
ing nutrient cycling, healthy plants/animals/humans,
resilience against drought with increased water holding
capacity, less erosion, reduced flooding, stabilized cli-
4. Community Dynamics Through Biodiversity mate, decreased pest pressure, and reduced pesticide
Diversity of plants, insects, microbes, and other organ- usage. These are but a few of the rewards for investing in
isms are responsible for transporting energy, nutrients, systems that leverage the power of ecosystem services.
and mass from one organism to another. Biodiversity is
the foundational ecosystem service to which our human
well-being is intimately linked. No feature of Earth is
more complex, dynamic, and diverse than the biosphere, Photo by Brendon Rockey
the layer of living organisms that occupy our soil surface
and chemically unites the atmosphere, geosphere, and
hydrosphere into one environmental ecosystem within
which millions of species, including humans, have thrived.
Diversity is a conduit or a transport mechanism to all
living organisms on the planet. Plants create an architec-
ture of habitat and biodiversity facilitates the self-healing,
self-regulating, and self-organizing mechanisms for all
natural ecosystems. Diversity creates health and resilience
in biological systems and without diversity of plant life, it
is impossible to achieve diverse soil life.
Reprinted with permission from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Outreach
precipitation

By Ray Archuleta • Seymour, MO
evapo-transpiration Ray Archuleta is one of our all-time favorite “soil
infiltration guys”. He is a Certified Professional Soil Scien-
tist with the Soil Science Society of America and
has over 30 years experience as a Soil Conserva-
soil water storage runoff tionist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conserva-
tion Agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS). During his tenure with the NRCS, Ray served in New Mexico,
Missouri, Oregon, and North Carolina. After his retirement from the
percolation NRCS in 2017, Ray founded Understanding Ag, LLC, and Soil Health
Academy, LLC, to teach Biomimicry strategies and Agroecology
principles for improving soil function on a national scale. Ray also
to stream
to deep owns and operates a 150-acre farm near Seymour, Missouri that he
groundwater stream operates along with his wife and family. To learn more, please visit
Ray’s website: www.understandingag.com.

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