| Themes > Science > Earth Sciences > Geology > Soils > Soil Composition > Components and Structure > Life in the Root Zone |
The health of plants, crops, animals, and people all begins with healthy soil. Each organism - above and below ground - has a role to play in the soil ecosystem. Here's what they do: Producers create carbohydrates and proteins from simple nutrient elements, almost always by capturing energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. Green plants, including blue-green algae are the producers for the soil community. Consumers are just about everyone else: all organisms big and little, that depend on the food created by green plants. Decomposers perform the critical function of bringing the basic chemical nutrients full circle - from consumers back to producers. They are primarily bacteria or fungi and are found almost exclusively in soil. Microbial decomposers account for about 60 to 80 percent of the total Soil metabolism. Without them, life would grind to a halt as we suffocated in our own wastes. Some of the organisms we know that are critical to soil health include bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, algae, nematodes? and earthworms. |
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