Was left fallow to allow it to rest”. This statement is occasionally used in submitted manuscripts. The implication is that if there is not a cash crop being grown the soil is not being productive, it is just laying there. To be clear when a crop is not under culture the soil is not hibernating like a bear, or gathering the family up and going on a vacation. Soil is categorized by the amount of sand, silt or clay it contains. But soil contains other things, and should not be envisioned as a compressed solid as exemplified by a brick which is comprised, in large measure, of clay.
The majority of soil is not silt, sand or clay. Much of soil is comprised of open spaces that allow passage of water and gases. In addition it is the habitat of a plethora of microorganisms: bacteria, fungi, nematodes, diatoms, other algae, as well as insects and helminths and earthworms, and others not itemized. It is also a depository for seed and other plant structures. There are probably more individual organisms in a pound of soil than there are individuals of all of humanity, and all of the land and aquatic animals on the rest of the planet. While the arrangement of an experiment may be discussed on the soil surface any number of interactions are going on within the soil structure. Although the type of inorganic material can contribute to soil characteristics such as pH and nutrient balance it is the deposition of materials from the denizens of the subterranean world that go a long way to determining the nutrient balance present. It is also the balance of these organisms that determine whether the planted crop will thrive or wither. Soil dwellers generally live in balance with each other. That is not to say that they are not going about the daily activity of living which includes the ingestion of some of their neighbors. However, they generally do not go on a feeding frenzy and eliminate everything near them. It has to be understood that many of the nutrients needed by one organism is produced by one, or more, other organisms in close proximity. If they kill off their food source they kill off their existence.
Once an experiment is concluded a decision has to be made regarding the biomass that is left. Either it is plowed under or it is left to stand. Either way the plant roots, or the entire plant body, will be available for the several microorganisms and other soil dwellers to dispose of. This occurs move quickly in the tropics but it never really stops. The plant tissue degraded after the final harvest is converted to the biomass of the scavenger species which in turn are preyed on by other soil inhabitants. Assume that the soil was scraped clean of any above ground biomass. It will not take long before plants will start germinating and try to reclaim the land; nature abhors a vacuum. This also means that the higher plants are gathering nutrients from the scraped soil which means the cycles of life are continuing out of sight and the soil is in an active state, not resting.
The recycling of plant biomass differs under different climatic conditions. Responses expected under mid-temperature temperate conditions are not going to be the same as for tropical or low-temperature temperate conditions. For the low-temperature conditions it is even likely that the soil will freeze down to some depth. That does not necessarily stop all organisms from metabolizing. It is necessary to understand that the organisms associated with the soil in various locations have evolved for the conditions in which they are living. As long as something is alive and functioning and water and gas exchange is occurring the soil is not resting. I would be very concerned if all activity in a soil stopped. If that happened it does not mean the soil is enjoying a much needed rest, it means it is dead.
Reviewers of submitted manuscripts
In addition to the Editorial Consulting Board, I want to extend my gratitude to the voluntary reviewers who provide their time and efforts to assure that the quality of the manuscripts meet the standards expected by the journal and its readers. They are: N. Bumgarner, D. Chakraborty, S. Dey, I. Fueloep, A. Ghoush, D. Grzebelus, M. Harrabi, G. Kakkar, P. Karmarkar, G.M.A. Lashin, M. Ozores-Hampton, E. Riang, S. Singh, K. Srinivas Kumar, and E. Valdez-Moctezuma.