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Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste .
This ultimately affects all living organisms that comprise an ecosystem. Ecotoxicology has been defined as a branch of toxicology that focuses on the study of toxic effects, caused by natural or synthetic pollutants. These pollutants affect animals (including humans), vegetation, and microbes, in an intrinsic way. [1]
Fungi are abundant in soil, but bacteria are more abundant. Fungi are important in the soil as food sources for other, larger organisms, pathogens, beneficial symbiotic relationships with plants or other organisms and soil health. Fungi can be split into species based primarily on the size, shape and color of their reproductive spores, which ...
While tetanus toxin is produced from Clostridium tetani, a spore forming bacteria found in soil, Tetanus is a paralytic disease that is global and commonly affects newborns as well as non-immunized individuals. Tetanus enters the body of organisms through wounds or skin breaks and can be found in manure, soil, and dust.
Soil mesofauna feed on a wide range of materials including other soil animals, microorganisms, animal material, live or decaying plant material, fungi, algae, lichen, spores, and pollen. [4] Species that feed on decaying plant material open drainage and aeration channels in the soil by removing roots.
Microfauna (from Ancient Greek mikros 'small' and from Latin fauna 'animal') are microscopic animals and organisms that exhibit animal-like qualities and have body sizes that are usually <0.1mm. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Microfauna are represented in the animal kingdom (e.g. nematodes , small arthropods ) and the protist kingdom (i.e. protozoans ).
[4] [5] Biological hazards, also known as biohazards, are organic substances that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This can include medical waste, samples of a microorganism, virus, or toxin (from a biological source) that can impact human health. Biological hazards can also include substances harmful to animals.
Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles (such as snakes ...