Keywords

minerals, agriculture, pesticides, erosion, nitrogen cycle, nutrient cycling, decomposition, biota, ecosystems, aeration, hydration, weathering, bedrock, carbon, soil pH, soil temperature, viruses, rhizosphere, decomposition, compost, legumes, mychorrhiza, phosphorus, sulfur, salts, saline soils, soil profile, soil structure, soil as a medium for life, soil ecosystems, microbes, microfauna, microflora, micronutrient, biogeochemical cycling, soil moisture, climate change, phytoremediation, ultrabacteria, brownfields, toxics, farming, water pollution, biodiversity, groundwater, soil conservation, top soils, soil profile, mycorrhiza, soil pH, soil symbiosis

Definition

Soil ecology is the study of the interactions of living organisms with each other within the complex soil environment, from nutrient cycling, to soil formation and structure, to plant productivity. Bacteria, algae, fungi, and micro/mesofauna like worms are the major inhabitants that require tending. Soil ecology is crucial to sustainable agriculture, grassland forage, and toxic removals from brownfields. From a soil ecologist's perspective, soil is the nexus of water, air, geology and the biogeochemical cycles of the planet. There are more chemoelectric reactions in a teaspoon of moist, healthy soil than in the human brain. Soils can nurture greater biodiversity per volume of soil than any other microhabitat. Soils act as a biological valve connecting the microbial micro-cosmos to the atmosphere of the planet. Soil disturbances influence climate change and climate buffering, nutrient cycling and pollution, toxic cleanup, as well as soil stability and fertility (humus). In restoration, soil microbes can alter groundwater flow (ultrabacteria) or clean up toxics (phytoremediation).