Soil & Biodiversity

Soil biodiversity is the variety of life that exists within the soil, including bacteria, fungi, earthworms and termites. A teaspoon of topsoil typically contains a vast range of different species and up to 6 billion microorganisms.The maintenance of soil biodiversity is essential to both the environment and to agricultural industries.

• 1).Soil is by far the most biologically diverse material on Earth.
• 2).Soil contains a large variety of organisms which interact and contribute to many global cycles, including the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
• 3).Soil provides vital habitats for micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, as well as insects and other organisms.

• Importance

  The diversity of organisms living within soils is critical to all earth ecosystems because soil organisms:
  • are essential for the cycling of ecosystem nutrients
  • are necessary for plant growth and plant nutrition
  • improve the entry of water into soil and its storage in the soil
  • provide resistance to erosion
  • suppress pests, parasites and disease
  • aid the capture of carbon
  • are vital to the world's gas exchange cycles
  • break down organic matter.
  Soil biodiversity is recognised as a critical influence on agriculture as it can enhance sustainability through improved:
  • soil structure
  • soil water movement
  • nutrient availability
  • suppression of pests and diseases.