ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the redistribution of minerals attributable to the presence of plants and actions of animals. Displacements in quantities of minerals occur vertically and horizontally. Roots gather minerals from a wider area than that receiving most of the litter fall; thus localized concentrations of minerals and organic matter occur under perennial plant canopy. This movement of minerals has been examined in many ways: as a vertical and horizontal mosaic of minerals, microhabitat, and kind of organism. Gradients of minerals, organisms, and microenvironments occur because perennial plants are discrete and live sufficiently long for striking patterns to develop. Shrubs as well as trees accumulate minerals from the adjacent openings and enrich the soil beneath their canopies. Confinement and feeding of animals, as with dairies and feedlots, accumulates waste materials resulting in high mineral concentrations in soil and water. The mineral pattern formed in one vegetational type continues when another vegetation is established.
