{"id":9947,"date":"2023-08-30T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=9947"},"modified":"2023-08-18T15:14:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T15:14:02","slug":"more-than-half-of-life-on-earth-is-found-in-soil-heres-why-thats-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/more-than-half-of-life-on-earth-is-found-in-soil-heres-why-thats-important\/","title":{"rendered":"More than half of life on Earth is found in soil \u2013 here\u2019s why that\u2019s important"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Springtails (Fasciosminthurus quinquefasciatus) are found in any damp soil.\n Andy Murray\/chaosofdelight.org<\/a>, CC BY-NC-ND<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nJohn Quinton<\/a>, Lancaster University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

A recent study<\/a> has found that soil is home to 59% of all life on Earth, from an insect feeding on the soil surface to a tiny microbe nestled in a soil pore. This discovery crowns soil as the most biodiverse habitat on the planet.<\/p>\n\n

The paper estimates that around 2 million species of arthropod<\/a> (think insects and spiders) inhabit the soil \u2013 some 30% of all known arthropod species. There are far fewer species of soil specialists such as enchytraeidae<\/em><\/a> (resembling mini earthworms) and oligochaeta<\/em><\/a> (worms), with only 770 and 6,000 species respectively. That might not seem like a lot, but it still represents around 98% and 63% of these animal groups.<\/p>\n\n

The variety of mammals living in soil is, by comparison, quite limited. Only 3.8% of mammal species are associated with this habitat. On the other hand, 85% of plants have their roots buried in the soil and around 43% of nematode<\/em><\/a> (tiny worms) species call soil their home, or reside within the plants and animals that inhabit it.<\/p>\n\n

However, the number of animal and plant species that live in soil are dwarfed by microscopic organisms. The researchers estimate that a mind-blowing 430 million species (or more than 50%) of bacteria and 5.6 million species (or 90%) of fungi have made soil their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But perhaps more important than the raw numbers are the functions that this biodiversity performs. The life within the soil not only helps to produce the food we eat, it also plays a crucial role in holding the soil together and even gives us potential sources for new antibiotics and medicines.<\/p>\n\n

Helping plants grow<\/h2>\n\n

Small animals, including earthworms<\/a> and springtails<\/a>, break down plant material and other forms of organic matter, such as dead insects, and incorporate them into the soil. This process releases the nutrients that most plants rely on to grow. But it\u2019s not the only way that soil organisms help plants gain more nutrition<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

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