How Soil Is Important to Plants & Animals
Less than 30 percent of Earth's surface is exposed land, and only 10 percent is arable, according to the Central Intelligent Agency's "World Fact Book." Arable land supports soil, the medium that, in turn, supports terrestrial life. Each organism in that medium is a link in a web that harvests energy from the sun and transforms it into other types of energy that the rest of the web feeds on to survive.
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Soil Function: Plants
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Soil provides an anchor for plant roots, shelter against air temperature extremes and a medium for minerals and nutrients necessary for plant life. It acts as a sponge for moisture, capturing water, holding it and then distributing it to plant roots. Soil also protects roots and microbes in the soil that plants depend on from direct sunlight, which can harm or kill them. Insects such as earthworms digest soil, improving it for the plants that grow there.
Plant Function: Animals
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The ability of soil to nourish plants is key to the existence of most terrestrial animals. Using the tools provided by the soil, plants transform energy from the sun into plant energy--sugars and starches. Animals feed on the plants and thus are able to consume the energy from the sun in a digestible form. Plants also shelter animals, camouflage them from predator or from prey and form their bedding and nests. Animals rely heavily on the chain supported by soil.
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Soil Function: Animals
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Soil itself can shelter subterranean animals, from mice to earthworms to bears in caves. But one of its most useful functions is that of an incubator or medium for beneficial microbes. Thousands of microbes exist in soil, replenishing the microbes that line the digestive tract and other membranous passageways along an animal's body. Soil that is toxic, degraded or depleted cannot sufficiently sustain beneficial microorganisms.
Soil Degradation
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When a natural habitat is cleared of its natural resources, such as trees, the balance of plants and animals returning nutrients to the soil is broken. The topsoil suffers a net loss of nutrients, and its ability to support plants and animals is diminished. In agriculture, fertilizers are manufactured and shipped to farms because the soil has been depleted of resources. The crop is taken away, along with all of its nutrients, and more fertilizers must be added to the soil for the next crop.
Soil Improvement
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Topsoil is the layer of soil that houses the greatest biodiversity. Building topsoil involves planting legumes, along with a variety of native species that break up hard-packed surfaces. The legumes add nitrogen to the soil, which helps all surrounding plants thrive. The plantings must be diverse and situated so that they are helpful to one another; for example, trees shade and support vines and herbs deter insects. Beneficial fungi, insects and microbes must be reintroduced to degraded soil and encouraged to proliferate. In time, the constant breakdown of organic matter will build a lush, sustainable layer of topsoil for plants and animals.
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References
- Photo Credit elephants grazing image by Derek Gower from Fotolia.com
