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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 ...
Bacteria and Archaea, the smallest organisms in soil apart from viruses, are prokaryotic. They are the most abundant microorganisms in the soil, and serve many important purposes, including nitrogen fixation. [9] Some bacteria can colonize minerals in the soil and help influence weathering and the breaking down of these minerals.
From the ancient time, people grow the leguminous crops to make the soil more fertile. And the reason for this is: the root of leguminous crops are symbiotic with the rhizobia (a kind of diazotroph). These rhizobia can be considered as a natural biofertilizer to provide available nitrogen in the soil.
As these organisms eat, grow, and move through the soil, they make it possible to have clean water, clean air, healthy plants, and moderated water flow. There are many ways that the soil food web is an integral part of landscape processes.
Microorganisms like those that make up biological soil crust are good at responding quickly to changes in the environment even after a period of dormancy such as precipitation. Desiccation can lead to oxidation and the destruction of nutrients, amino acids, and cell membranes in the microorganisms that make up biological soil crust. [16]
They are slow-growing in contrast to Rhizobium species, which are considered fast-growing rhizobia. In a liquid medium, Bradyrhizobium species take 3–5 days to create a moderate turbidity and 6–8 hours to double in population size. They tend to grow best with pentoses as carbon sources. [4]
The number of seeds that are even able to germinate in acidic soil is much lower than the number of seeds that can sprout in a more neutral pH soil. [7] These limitations to the growth of plants can have a very negative effect on plant health, leading to a decrease in the overall plant population. These effects occur regardless of the biome.
An example of a topological food web (image courtesy of USDA) [1]. The soil food web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes a complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals.