Soil Biology- The Engine of Life on Land

Importance, Impact, Methodology.

Hyper Diversity

A little known fact about Soil- It is actually the most diverse habitat in the known Universe, with an estimate (based on DNA sequencing) of up to 25% of all known lifeforms either living directly in or originating (initial life cycle stage) in soil.

 

 

The Soil Food Web

Much like plants and animals connected in aboveground food webs (which are much more understood), Soil (or belowground) communities have their own unique food web, which is intrinsically linked to and critical for the basic functioning of aboveground systems.

 

Please click on the Diagram for more details.

Figure 2 - Simplified Diagram showing the structure of the Soil Biology Food Web and it's various Functional (Trophic) Compartments including: [Plant] - Trophic Level 1: Basal Material (Living and Dead Organic Matter), [Yellow] - Trophic Level 2: Primary Consumers (Plant - Soil Biology Link), [Blue] - Trophic Level 3: (Bacteria and Fungi Grazers - primarily Fungi), [Red] - Trophic Level 4: (Predatory Soil Animals - Mites and Nematodes), [Orange] - Tropical 5: Surface Predators (Aboveground-Belowground Link).

Predators

Taxonomy – Kingdom

Functional Group – Predatory Soil Animals

Trophic Level: Five

Predatory Mites
(Mesostigmatid)

Taxonomy – Order

Functional Group – Predatory Soil Animals

Trophic Level: Four

Fungal Feeding Mites
(Oribatid)

Taxonomy – Order

Functional Group – Fungi Grazers

Trophic Level: Three

Springtails
(Collembola)

Taxonomy – Order

Functional Group – Fungi Grazers

Trophic Level: Three

Nematodes
(Nematoda)

Taxonomy – Order

Functional Groups – Primary Consumers and Bacteria and Fungi Grazers

Trophic Level: Two and Three

Bacteria

Taxonomy – Kingdom

Functional Group – Primary Consumers

Trophic Level: Two

Fungi

Taxonomy – Kingdom

Functional Group – Primary Consumers

Trophic Level: Two