Importance of Soil Organismsby Honey Mandal | 08-08-2020 21:47 |
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Soil is the home for different kinds of organisms and microorganisms such as fungi, protozoa,earthworm,nematodes,actinomycetes,bacteria etc.Each of these organisms have essential role to boost up the soil and plant health.It is estimated that ,in one acre of living top soil there are about 2400 pounds of fungi ,1500 pounds of bacteria,133 pounds protozoa,900 pounds of earthworm ,890 pounds arthropods and other many organisms.soil can be viewed as stomach of the earth as there are the process of consumption,digestion,and cycling of nutrients .organic matters gets breakdown by soil organisms and make nutrient uptake for plants.The nutrient stored in the bodies of soil organisms prevent nutrient loss by leaching.There is a complex network of soil organism with food web with some subsisting on living plants and animals (herbivorous and predators),others on dead plant debris (detrivorus) on fungi or on bacteria.Some of the soil organisms and its role are described as fallows: Earthworms are lucrative for the farmers in the agricultural field.The role of earthworm is diverse in the soil.On the basis of ecological category of species ,the influence of earthworm in the soil is different. 1. Epigeic: These are small and pigmented (green or reddish) earthworm which thrives mostly in the litter layer changing environment ,drought condition and high temperature. They are mostly used in compost making process. 2. Endogeic: These are the unpigmented worms that live and feed in the soil .It can be further divided into three groups i.e. oligohumic,mesohumic,and polyhumic.They carries the activities such as mixing and burrowing of soil. 3. Anecic: These are the earthworms that mostly spend their time in the soil .They feed on the surface litter that generally mix with soil. Bacteria: Each gram of soil contains approximately one million of these tiny one celled organism.Bacteria are often called as bag of enzymes or soluble bag of fertilizer.There are different species of bacteria,each have their own respected role in soil biology.Bacteria plays important role in nutrient cycling as well as release of Nitrogen, Sulphur ,phosphorous and many other trace elements from organic matter.Bacteria like Nostoc,Rhizobium infects the root and begin to multiply colonize,hence forming the root nodules in the legumes .Symbiotically,they convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Non symbiotic nitrogen fixation is done by Azobacter,Rhodospirlan etc . Furthermore, bacteria also involve in the solubility of nutrients improving soil structure ,fighting root diseases and detoxifying soil. References: http://unsplash.com/photos/jin4w1HqgL4 http://fao.org/3/a0100e/a0100e0d.htm http://www.attra.ncat.org/sustainable soil management |