Soil oxygen

Healthy soils are characterized by oxygen concentrations of about 19%. This is somewhat lower than the level of 21% that we find in air. But it's much, much higher than the levels we find in problem soils (see table below). In fact, low oxygen levels in soil are frequently involved in some of the most difficult situations that turf managers deal with, including poor drainage, surface sealing, black layer, compaction, heavy thatch and anaerobic soils.

Even very small changes in…