You might believe that underground, there's nothing but dirt, with roots and maybe a few earthworms.
Ever wondered how plants manage to get their water and nutrients? You might think it's from the soil, and farmers replenish nutrients with fertilizer.
But the reality is that soil is far more intricate than it appears.
Beneath our feet lies a hidden universe. The soil includes mineral soils, silts, sands, clays, and an assortment of macro and microorganisms, collectively referred to as soil biomes.
These tiny organisms take the time to consume plant debris, converting and storing nutrients while contributing to soil structure.
Surprisingly, just a teaspoon of healthy soil can harbor more microbes than the entire human population. It's truly remarkable.
Soil is a complex, living system that we're only beginning to comprehend. Soil scientists often refer to the microbial world within the soil as a "black box." Our understanding of these microbes, their interactions, and their impact on plants and the environment has been greatly advanced by DNA sequencing and other scientific breakthroughs.
Why it's crucial to prioritize soil health:
Healthy, biodiverse soils serve as the foundation for crop growth, nutrient cycling, and water filtration. Additionally, soil helps bolster our resilience to climate change by sequestering carbon and mitigating the effects of droughts and floods.
Additionally, soil helps bolster our resilience to climate change by sequestering carbon and mitigating the effects of droughts and floods. However, human activities, particularly industrial and agricultural development, have led to soil degradation and erosion. These processes have reduced the diversity of life necessary to nourish plants and crops.
Thriving soil communities:
Various members of the soil community contribute to creating healthy soil.
- Earthworms: These creatures are commonly found in healthy soil and play a significant role. Earthworms can break down plant material equivalent to their weight in just one week. Transforming them into powdered compost, known as castings, enriches the soil. Raising worms and utilizing their castings is a straightforward, low-tech method that yields a stable organic fertilizer, suitable even for small farms or apartments, as they require minimal space.
- Mycobacterium bovis: A bacterium found in the soil, it has shown potential antidepressant properties. The fatty substances produced by these bacteria appear to combat stress-related inflammation, potentially preventing depression.
While not completely understood, this tiny bacterium might possess the ability to counteract our natural stress response.
- Dung Beetles: These insects are indicators of healthy soil and are present in various ecosystems across the world.
Dung beetles feed on feces, transporting it to underground tunnels or rolling it into a ball and burying it in the soil to lay eggs. Interestingly, they use celestial bodies like the sun, moon, and galaxies as guides for orientation.
On the flip side, soil also harbors pests and pathogens that can threaten both healthy crops and human health. An imbalanced ecosystem can result in the loss of natural predators for these pests. For example, nematodes, microscopic roundworms, can be pests.
But some predatory nematodes can attack soil larvae, including common cotton pests like the pink bollworm and stickleback.
Balanced soil biomes help maintain those beneficial nematode species and prevent cotton pest outbreaks.
Increasingly, the agricultural community recognizes that achieving an optimal environment for a thriving ecosystem necessitates the promotion of healthy soils.
