Living Soil Contains Soil Microorganisms
What is Living Soil?
Living soil is simply the portion of the soil that contains living microorganisms. To have truly healthy soil the soil must contain a variety of microorganisms. As an example, most people think of rich topsoil.
So, healthy soils means far more ย than just the absence of disease. Healthy soil means that soil contains all of the necessary microorganisms to create a balanced micro food web for the plants.
While plants vary in their need for different microorganisms, the constant factor is the need for a vibrant mix of soil microbiology to have healthy, fertile soil.
There are three main types of soil microorganisms that weโll discuss in this post; bacteria, fungi, and protozoa.
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Soil Bacteria Help Create a Living Soil
- Bacteria are prokaryotic, single celled microorganisms. Bacteria, through their ability to produce a wide variety of enzymes, are vital for recycling nutrients in the soil.
- Bacteria produce so many enzymes that they are sometimes thought of as enzyme factories. There are thousands of species of bacteria and they are among the oldest organisms on earth.
- Ecologically, many bacteria are classified as decomposers. That is organisms that โfeedโ on dead organisms and recycling their nutrients. Additionally, bacteria bind several compounds to the soil, including nitrogen, ย so that they will not leach out of the soil.ย
- Some Soil Bacteria are nitrogen fixers. That is, they convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Ammonia can then be utilized as a nitrogen source by plants.
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Soil Fungi
- Fungi are a form of microorganism that create several benefits to living soils. Fungi tend to hold soil together and thus improve soil structure.
- Beneficial soil fungi consume some of the harder to digest materials such as the cellulose found in leaves and tree trunks.
- Fungi can have a symbiotic, mutually beneficial, relationship with plants. This mycorrhizal relationship allows some beneficial fungi to transfer vital nutrients directly to the plant roots.
- It is important to note that whole many soil fungi are beneficial, there are also disease causing, pathogenic, fungi as well.
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Protozoa
- As a part of the soil micro food web, protozoa consume bacteria releasing the excess nutrients in a soluble form. It is this soluble form of the nutrients that is utilized by the plant roots.
- Protozoa include a number of microorganisms many of which consume soil bacteria.
Living Soil
All the organisms weโve discussed, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, also help build micro air passages that allow air, water, and nutrients to move through the soil to the roots.
So living soils means having a healthy mix of beneficial soil microorganisms. Living soil is a rich, fertile soil and perfect as a garden soil.
Like most things, balance is the key. To improve soil quality, consider the effect that soil microorganisms have on overall soil performance. Biofertilizers, sometimes called microbial soil amendments, contain soil microorganisms and may be of use to improve the microbial content of your soil.