Biodiversity interactions

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Soil Biodiversity Interactions

Soil is one of the most important natural resources for life on this planet and contributes to many ecological systems. Life within the soil is vast and vital, in fact, 25% of all the worlds species live within the soil. According to the center for Ecology and Hydrology, only 1% of these organisms have even been discovered. [10]

What is Soil Biodiversity?

Soil biodiversity includes the living organisms and their interactions with each other, along with plants in the soil. Soil life varies with environment, from the other side of the world, the country, or even a tree. For example, a handful of soil from one spot on the forest floor may contain a very different selection of life from soil two feet away. This is because of variations in the availability of water or nutrients. [3] This immense variety serves as a cause for the many interactions, effects, and services that this ecosystem creates and contributes to. The benefits gained from this ecological environment affect not only the underground, but the surrounding terrestrial environment as well. Soil biodiversity is more extensive than any other environment on earth when all living forms are accounted for. The soil biota contains representations of all groups of microorganisms, such as fungi, bacteria, algae, as well as the microfauna such as protozoa and nematodes. [12]

[7]

Classification

When classifying soil organisms, using body size is the gold standard method. [12]

The Benefits

Soil is a vital part of the environment in its entirety. Variability in substrate quality and soil habitat causes wide variation in soil microbial communities and functions of nutrient cycles. [5] The decomposition of organic material into inorganic molecules is one of the more important ecosystem services performed by soil organisms. [8] The diverse life in the soil processes waste organic matter in order to sustain terrestrial life. Biodiversity interactions within the soil also regulate the water cycle and the carbon flux, decontaminate the soil and air due to pollution, and essentially provide us with medicine. [2]

Carbon Flux

  • Through photosynthesis, plants draw carbon out of the air to form carbon compounds. The plant then exudes what it doesn't need for growth through its roots to supply soil organisms, where the carbon is then rendered stable, giving soil its structure, fertility, and water retention capabilities as well. [4] Besides plants, a range of microbial organisms including algae, cyanobacteria and some other forms of bacteria are also capable of photosynthesis. [12]
  • When plants and animals die, they are decomposed into the soil by the biota. The carbon then leaves their bodies and is sent back into the atmosphere. [4]
  • The continual decaying of plant material and greater species diversity in soil maximizes carbon storage and its cycling process. [4] [6]

Soil Organic Matter & Nutrient Cycling

  • The decomposition of this matter is a naturally occurring biological process that is determined by soil organisms, the physical environment, and the quality of the organic matter.
  • The products released during decomposition of organic matter include: carbon dioxide, energy, water, plant nutrients and resynthesized organic carbon compounds. [6]
  • Soil organic matter is a food source for soil organisms and micro-organisms.
    • the waste material from these organisms is mineralized into the soil and is used by plants for nutrients.
    • By breaking down carbon and rebuilding new carbon (by feeding off the organic matter and excreting it back into the soil), soil biota plays the most important role in nutrient cycling processes and can provide nutrients through soil to harvest healthy plants. [6]

The Water Cycle

  • Soil water gets passed through plant roots, leading up into the plant itself. From here, water is absorbed and retained in the ground, and the excess leaves the plant, evaporating in the form of water vapor by a process called transpiration. This is a key process by which the water is returned to the atmosphere as water vapor. [9]

Antibiotics

  • Penicillin, the first commercialized antibiotic, is made from fungus. Streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline are all produced by soil bacteria. [11]
[6]

Soil Carbon and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change� Climate Change]

It is widely known and accepted by most, that the climate is warming due to increase outputs of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have risen from approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) prior to 1850, to 381.2 ppm in 2006. [13] Approximately two-thirds of the total increase in atmospheric CO2 is a result of human living; the burning of fossil fuels. The remainder coming from SOC loss due to land use change, such as the clearing of forests and the cultivation of land for food production, depleting carbon from the soils. [14] "The decomposition of SOM is due to the activity of the microbial decomposer community in the absence of continual rates of carbon input from the growth of forest vegetation, as well as increased soil temperatures that result from warming of the ground once the forest canopy has been removed." (Ontl & Schlute; 2012) [9] The rising concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere may cause soil microbes to work faster in order to break down organic matter within the soil; in turn, potentially releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. [15] Although the amount of carbon in the ocean is larger than that in the soil, the rate of exchange is higher between the atmosphere and the soil than between the ocean and the atmosphere. Increasing soil organic carbon is a widely accepted goal that would help and benefit the ecological services provided by soil that is necessary for sustaining life.

References

1. Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/?q=node/418

2. The factory of life: Why soil biodiversity is so important. (2010). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publ. of the Europ. Union.

3. Dance, Amber (2008). What lies beneath (PDF). Nature. 455 (7214): 724–25. doi:10.1038/455724a. PMID 18843336.

4. Shwartz, J. D. (2014, March 4). Soil as Carbon Storehouse: New Weapon in Climate Fight? Retrieved from https://e360.yale.edu/features/soilascarbonsstorehousenewweaponinclimatefight

5. Fujii, K., Shibata, M., Kitajima, K., Ichie, T., Kitayama, K., & Turner, B. L. (2017). Plant–soil interactions maintain biodiversity and functions of tropical forest ecosystems. Ecological Research,33(1), 149-160. doi:10.1007/s11284-017-1511-y

6. Benites J., Bot, A. (2005). The Importance of Soil Organic Matter-Key to Drought-resistant soil and sustained food production. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

7. European Commission - Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability. European Soil Portal. Retrieved December, 2014, from http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Library/Themes/Biodiversity/Index.html

8. Wall, D. H., & Moore, J. C. (1999). Interactions Underground: Soil biodiversity, mutualism, and ecosystem processes. BioScience,49(2), 109-117.

9. Ontl, T. A. & Schulte, L. A. (2012). Soil Carbon Storage. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):35

10. Burns, P. (2017, November 17). International Year of Soils 2015. Retrieved from https://www.ceh.ac.uk/international-year-soils-2015

11. Curr Biol. (2009 June 9); The Natural History of Antibiotics. National Institutes of Health,19(11): R437–R441. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.04.001.

12. Mandal, A., & S., N. (2012). Impact of Climate Change On Soil Biodiversity-A Review. Indian Institute of Soil Science,33(4).

13. WMO: World Meteorological Organization, (2006) Greenhouse Gas Bulletin. Geneva, Switzerland-World Meterological Organization.

14. Lal, R. (2004) Soil carbon sequestration impact on global climate change and food security. Science 304, 1623-1627

15. Deketelaere, K., & Peeters, M. (2016). Key Challenges of EU Climate Change Policy: Competences, Measures and Compliance. EU Climate Change Policy. doi:10.4337/9781847203090.00006

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