Extract on the subject
Soil biodiversity in the
European Soil Portal
"Soil biodiversity is a term used to describe the variety of life below-ground. The concept is conventionally used in a genetic sense and denotes the number of distinct species (richness) and their proportional abundance (evenness) present in a system, but may be extended to encompass phenotypic (expressed), functional, structural or trophic diversity. The total biomass below-ground generally equals or exceeds that above-ground, whilst the biodiversity in the soil always exceeds that on the associated surface by orders of magnitude, particularly at the microbial scale. A handful of grassland soil will typically support tens of thousands of genetically distinct prokaryotes (bacteria, archaea) and hundreds of eukaryotic species across many taxonomic groups. The soil biota plays many fundamental roles in delivering key ecosystem goods and services, and is both directly and indirectly responsible for carrying out many important functions.
Ecosystems goods provided by soil biota:
- food production
- fibre production
- provision of secondary compounds (e.g. pharmaceuticals / agrochemicals)
Ecosystems services provided by soil biota :
- driving nutrient cycling and regulation of water flow and storage
- regulation of soil and sediment movement and regulation of other biota (including pests and diseases)
- detoxification of xenobiotics and pollutants and regulation of atmospheric composition"
Source and more
Relevant papers: