Soil organisms play important roles in maintaining soil fertility and structure. They range in size from microscopic bacteria to large earthworms. Soil organisms break down decaying organic material from dead plants and animals, releasing nutrients in forms that can be used by living plants. They are essential participants in nutrient cycles like the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, which allow nutrients to be recycled through an ecosystem. However, some soil organisms can also be agricultural pests when they damage crop roots or carry diseases.
Soil organisms play important roles in maintaining soil fertility and structure. They range in size from microscopic bacteria to large earthworms. Soil organisms break down decaying organic material from dead plants and animals, releasing nutrients in forms that can be used by living plants. They are essential participants in nutrient cycles like the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, which allow nutrients to be recycled through an ecosystem. However, some soil organisms can also be agricultural pests when they damage crop roots or carry diseases.
Soil organisms play important roles in maintaining soil fertility and structure. They range in size from microscopic bacteria to large earthworms. Soil organisms break down decaying organic material from dead plants and animals, releasing nutrients in forms that can be used by living plants. They are essential participants in nutrient cycles like the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, which allow nutrients to be recycled through an ecosystem. However, some soil organisms can also be agricultural pests when they damage crop roots or carry diseases.
Soil organism any organism inhabit the soil during
part or all its life. Soil organism, which range in size
From microscopic cells the digest decaying organic material to small organism with play as important role in maintaining fertility, structure, drainage, and aeration of soil. They also break down plant tissues, releasing stored nutrient and converting them into form usable by plants. Some soil organisms are pest like nematodes. Cause rots, some release substance that inhabit plant growth, and other are host form organism that cause animal disease. One of the most important roles of soil is breaking up the complex substance in de decaying plants so that they can be used again by living plants. This involves soil organisms as catalyst in number of natural cycles, among the most prominent being the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles.
Carbon cycle begins in plants, which combine carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere with water to make plant tissues such as leaves, stem and fruits. Animals eat the plant and convert the tissues into animals tissues. The cycle is completed when the animal die and their decaying tissues are eaten by soil organism, a process that releases carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen cycle proteins are the basic stuffs or
organic tissues, and nitrogen is an essential element of all proteins. The availability of nitrogen in forms that plant can use is a basic determinant of the fertility of soil ; the role of soil organisms in facilitating the nitrogen cycle is
therefore is great important. When a plant or animal dies,
soil organisms break up the complex proteins, polypeptides, and nucleic acid in their bodies and produce ammonium, ions, nitrites that plant then use to build their body tissues.
Sulfur cycle soil organism also participate in the
sulfur cycle, mostly by breaking up the naturally abundant sulfur compounds in the soil so that this vital element is available to plants. *through soil organism have become less important in agriculture due to the development of synthetic fertilizers. *they play a vital role in woodland, especially in the creation of humus, a finely separated complex of organic materials composed of decaying leaves & other vegetable matters. *through some soil organism can become pests especially when a single crop is grown repeteadly in the same fields, encouraging the proliferation of organisms that prey on their roots by large they are essential elements in the process of file. Death & decay which rejuvenates the environment
Soil organisms are commonly divided into
arbitrary according to size : Proteins the smallest soil organism which includes bacteria 8 actinomyces
Bacteria are single celled organisms; exceed all other
soil organism in kind &number. Most of the soil bacteria are heterotrophic. They required performed carbon. In terms of requirement for oxygen, they are classified into aerobes, anaerobes & facultative aerobes. Aerobes require supply of oxygen in soil atmosphere. Facultative aerobes thrive well in aerobic environment but can adapt to anaerobic conditions of the soil.
Actinomyces refers to a group of bacteria with
superficial resemblance to fungi, function in decomposition of very resistant materials.
Microfauna which are less than 100 microns in
length and generally feed upon other microorganisms. It also includes single celled protozoans, some smaller flatworms, nematodes, rotifers, & tardigrades (eight legged in vertebrates).
Mesofauna are larger & are heterogenous,
including creature that feed on microorganisms, decaying matter & living plants. It includes menatodes, mites, springtails & paurofods. Macrofauna are also a quite diverse. The most common example is the potworm, a white, semented worm that5 feeds on fungi, bacteria & decaying plant material. Megafauna constitute the largest soil organisms & include the largest earthworms, perhaps the most important creatures that live in the topsoil.