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Integrated Farming Topic Sheet no 5 / 2015
Soils – abundance of life!
Whether used for agriculture, forestry, gardening, landscaping or nature conservation purposes for example, soils are home to an abundance of life: In addition to the soil minerals sand, silt and clay, and soil organic matter, literally billions of all kinds of organism can be found under one single footprint alone. This includes bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, nematodes, mites, springtails, insect larvae, diplopoda and earthworms. Their combined body weight may amount to a total of 260 to 1,650 grams per square metre of soil – and that is part of the explanation for the importance of soil life in Integrated Farming. Read more…