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There’s an ecosystem beneath your feet—and it needs protection, says new report

There’s an ecosystem beneath your feet—and it needs protection, says new report

3 years ago
Anonymous $y15ULlV7sG

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/there-s-ecosystem-beneath-your-feet-and-it-needs-protection-says-new-report

Plants, insects, and other organisms depend on and sustain soil ecosystems.

Reach down and scoop up some soil. Cupped in your hands may be 5000 different kinds of creatures—and as many individual cells as there are humans on the globe. That random handful might hold microscopic fungi, decomposing plant matter, a whisker-size nematode munching on the fungi, and a predatory, pinhead-size mite about to pounce on the nematode. One bacterium may fend off another with a potent antibiotic. It’s a whole world of often overlooked biodiversity.

There’s an ecosystem beneath your feet—and it needs protection, says new report

Dec 4, 2020, 9:20am UTC
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/there-s-ecosystem-beneath-your-feet-and-it-needs-protection-says-new-report > Plants, insects, and other organisms depend on and sustain soil ecosystems. > Reach down and scoop up some soil. Cupped in your hands may be 5000 different kinds of creatures—and as many individual cells as there are humans on the globe. That random handful might hold microscopic fungi, decomposing plant matter, a whisker-size nematode munching on the fungi, and a predatory, pinhead-size mite about to pounce on the nematode. One bacterium may fend off another with a potent antibiotic. It’s a whole world of often overlooked biodiversity.