Neccessary Evil ! (is there a better way) ?

The addition of salts to de-ice the pavement during the winter season creates disturbances in the soil ecosystem. These salts go into solution and are deposited either on the unpaved areas adjacent to the roadway, or get washed down into the catch basins and transported to our “natural” waters. The accumulation of sodium chloride in the soil profile destroys the structure of the pore spaces in the soil and desiccates the live soil organisms. The microorganisms that live in the soil through the excretion of polysaccharides and the sticky glomalin deposited by mycorrhizal fungi play a critical role in the formation of soil aggregates which give soil its stability against weathering and erosion, and its ability to hold water and air for plants and microbes. The microbes create micro-aggregates that form macro-aggregates that create the necessary spaces in the soil – matrix that contains water and oxygen and allows for the waste gases produced in the processes of respiration from the soil organisms,and the plant’s roots to escape back into the atmosphere. We need the soil’s surface and immediate sub-surface to remain open to the environment, so the processes of metabolism, and the hydrological cycle can occur. The addition of some salt – based chemical fertilizers also add to this “brine pool”. I do not know how this over-loading of salt affects the aquatic environments but it must be equally degrading to a fresh water environment? A “Dead Zone” is then created in the soils which translates to toxic conditions for native terrestrial vegetation to become established, hence exotic invasive plants can then take advantage of these conditions, and their seeds germinate and these monocultures take hold and with no native predator to restrict their growth and development can “have – a – party”, and go wild.

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