Soil and Biodiversity
Biodiversity is “the variety of life: the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes and the ecosystems of which they are a part” (Department of the Environment and Water Resources, 2007). Biodiversity and soil are strongly linked – soil is the medium for a large variety of organisms and interacts closely with the wider biosphere; conversely, biological activity is a primary factor in the physical and chemical formation of soils (Bardgett, 2005).
Soil provides a vital habitat – primarily for microbes including bacteria and fungi; also for microfauna such as aprotozoa and nematodes; mesofauna such as microarthropods and enchtraeids; and macrofauna such as earthworms, termites and millipedes (Bardgett, 2005). The primary role of soil biota is to recycle organic matter that is derived from the “above-ground plant-based food web”.
Soil is in close cooperation with the wider biosphere - the maintenance of fertile soil is “one of the most vital ecological services the living world performs”; the “mineral and organic contents of soil must be replenished constantly as plants consume soil elements and pass them up the food chain” (Baskin, 1997).
The correlation of soil and biodiversity can be observed spatially – for example, both natural and agricultural vegetation boundaries correspond closely to soil boundaries, even at continental and global scales (Young & Young, 2001).
Read more about this topic: Soil Biodiversity
Famous quotes containing the word soil:
“The Indian attitude toward the land was expressed by a Crow named Curly: “The soil you see is not ordinary soil—it is the dust of the blood, the flesh, and the bones of our ancestors. You will have to dig down to find Nature’s earth, for the upper portion is Crow, my blood and my dead. I do not want to give it up.””
—For the State of Montana, U.S. public relief program. Montana: A State Guide Book (The WPA Guide to Montana)