Soil Life

Soil is home to a staggering abundance and diversity of organisms, each of them occupying a specific habitat or niche. This diversity encompasses an enormous range of organism types, sizes, shapes and lifestyles, which operate at many different scales and interact with each other to form the soil food web.

Soil life ranges from the microscopic (e.g., bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes) to larger mesofauna (e.g., springtails and mites), up to the largest macro- or mega-fauna (e.g., earthworms and ants). The rich biodiversity within soil reflects the complexity and dynamic nature of the habitat. With an immense surface area, complex spatial structure and pronounced gradients in the availability of essential resources – such as nutrients, water and organic materials – soil provides a wide range of different niches.

Soils are comprised of a mixture of minerals fractions (sand, silt, clay), organic materials and pore spaces, the latter of which can be filled with either air or water. Much of the life within soil exists within the pores, so the soil structure and the nature of the pore network is important maintaining habitats that support life.