Unit 6: Biological properties of soil

6.1 Soil as habitat for organism

A habitat is an area in which something lives. Soil is a habitat, and it is full of life! Around 25%
of everything alive on the Earth uses soil as a habitat. Some animals live on top of the soil (in
leaf litter or other organic matter), and others live below the surface. Some things live in the soil
for their entire lives, and others live there for just a part of their lives. There are billions of
microorganisms living in the soil too, but they are too small for us to see. Plants also live in soil.
They depend on soil for air, water and nutrients. Things living in the soil depend on each other
and on non-living soil components like organic matter and minerals to survive. This
interdependence and transfer of food energy is called a soil food web.

6.2 Organisms in soil- flora and fauna

The soil ecosystem can be defined as an interdependent life-support system composed of air,
water, minerals, and macro- and micro-organisms. These organisms can in turn be distinguished
into flora (for example plants and micro-flora such as algae, bacteria and fungi) and fauna (for
example earthworms, millipedes, woodlice, slugs and snails, and micro-fauna such as protozoa
and nematodes). This soil biota, one of the most important components of the soil, plays a major
role in many essential natural processes, which determine nutrient recycling and nutrient and
water availability for agricultural productivity.

The soil microflora includes bacteria, fungi and algae. The number and variety of bacteria
predominate over the other groups of soil microorganisms. Their number exceeds several million
to billions in one gram of soil. Direct microscopic and plate count methods are generally
employed to enumerate the number and different groups of bacteria in the soil. The majority of
fungi (moulds) inhabit near the soil surface where they can prevail sufficient oxygen.
Conversely, yeasts or unicellular fungi inhabit deep inside the soil, as they require anaerobic
conditions to grow. A fungal cell can be single or multicelled. There are thousands to several
hundreds of different soil fungi, which may exist as mycelium network and fungal spores.
Among different groups of bacteria and fungi, the number of algae is somehow less (100-
10,000). Green algae and diatoms predominates in the soil. They usually inhabit the ground
surface or the layer below it, to carry out photosynthetic and other metabolic activities.

The soil fauna is the collection of all the microscopic and macroscopic animals in a given soil.
Soil animals can be conventionally grouped by size classes: macrofauna (cm; enchytraeids,
earthworms, macroarthropods), mesofauna (mm; microarthropods, mites and collembolan), and
microfauna (µm; protozoa, nematodes) The size of a soil organism can restrict its location in the
soil habitat. Smaller members of the microfauna like nematodes are basically aquatic organisms
that live in the thin water films or capillary pores of aggregates preying or grazing on other
aquatic microfauna such as amoebas. Soil protozoa are also land-adapted members of aquatic
microfauna that can dwell in water films in field moist soils. Water films are created by the
adsorption of water to soil particles. Soil has a direct effect on the environmental conditions,
habitat and nutrient sources available to the soil biota. The term pedosphere is often used
interchangeably with soil and captures the concept that the soil is a habitat where the integration
of spheres occurs. These spheres include the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and the
biosphere. Numerous biogeochemical processes regulated by soil biota occur in the pedosphere.
Studies of the pedosphere range in scale from the field (km) to a soil aggregate (µm to nm).

Table 1: Classification of soil organism

6.3 Macro-organism in soil

There are more organisms in one tablespoon of healthy soil than there are people on the earth.
Soil organisms are an intimate and integral part of a soil. These organisms contribute
significantly to soil fertility and structure. Virtually all topsoil has passed through the gut of
either microorganisms or macro-organisms. Macro-organisms include protozoa, nematodes,
earthworms, arthropods (insects, spiders) and rodents.

Arthropods (examples: mites, spiders, insects)

 graze on bacteria and fungi or decomposing plant material

 help accelerate microbial decomposition

Earthworms

 burrow extensively, creating macrospores and mixing soil

 reduce soil bulk density
 improve air and water infiltration
 improve soil structure
 increase the soil's nutrient pool

Rodents (examples: mice, groundhogs, chipmunks)

  pass organic materials through their gut when the burrow and feed in the soil
 deposit fecal pellets rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

6.4 Micro-organism in soil

Fungi

 after roots, they make up the largest amount of living material in the soil
 help make soil nutrients available to plants
 have in important role in organic matter decomposition
 are easily destroyed and killed by intensive tillage

Bacteria

 are important for good soil quality and fertility

 Nitrogen fixing bacteria are important part of a soil's nitrogen cycle; they are associated
with plants such as soybeans, peas, clover and alfalfa.

Actinomycetes

 decompose organic matter

 are abundant in low pH, droughty soils
 Algae decompose organic matter
 are commonly found in poorly drained soils

6.5 Microbial decomposition of organic residue

During the decomposition process, microorganisms convert the carbon structures of fresh
residues into transformed carbon products in the soil. There are many different types of organic
molecules in soil. Some are simple molecules that have been synthesized directly from plants or
other living organisms. These relatively simple chemicals, such as sugars, amino acids, and
cellulose are readily consumed by many organisms. For this reason, they do not remain in the
soil for a long time. Other chemicals such as resins and waxes also come directly from plants,
but are more difficult for soil organisms to break down.

Humus is the result of successive steps in the decomposition of organic matter. Because of the
complex structure of humic substances, humus cannot be used by many micro-organisms as an
energy source and remains in the soil for a relatively long time.
6.6 Nitrogen fixing microbes and their plant association

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, microorganisms capable of transforming atmospheric nitrogen into

fixed nitrogen (inorganic compounds usable by plants). More than 90 percent of all nitrogen
fixation is affected by these organisms, which thus play an important role in the nitrogen cycle.
Two kinds of nitrogen-fixing bacteria are recognized. The first kind, the free-living
(nonsymbiotic) bacteria, includes the cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae) Anabaena and Nostoc
and genera such as Azotobacter, Beijerinckia, and Clostridium. The second kind comprises the
mutualistic (symbiotic) bacteria; examples include Rhizobium, associated with leguminous
plants (e.g., various members of the pea family); Frankia, associated with certain dicotyledonous
species (actinorhizal plants); and certain Azospirillum species, associated with cereal grasses.

The symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria invade the root hairs of host plants, where they multiply
and stimulate formation of root nodules, enlargements of plant cells and bacteria in intimate
association. Within the nodules the bacteria convert free nitrogen to ammonia, which the host
plant utilizes for its development. To ensure sufficient nodule formation and optimum growth of
legumes (e.g., alfalfa, beans, clovers, peas, soybeans), seeds are usually inoculated with
commercial cultures of appropriate Rhizobium species, especially in soils poor or lacking in the
required bacterium.

6.7 Legume-bacteria (Rhizobium) symbiosis relationship

Legumes are able to form a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria called
rhizobia. The result of this symbiosis is to form nodules on the plant root, within which the
bacteria can convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia that can be used by the plant.
Establishment of a successful symbiosis requires the two symbiotic partners to be compatible
with each other throughout the process of symbiotic development. However, incompatibility
frequently occurs, such that a bacterial strain is unable to nodulate a particular host plant or
forms nodules that are incapable of fixing nitrogen. Genetic and molecular mechanisms that
regulate symbiotic specificity are diverse, involving a wide range of host and bacterial genes
with various modes of action.