Watching for wildlife in the forest, we rarely see past the surface of things. Standing on the ground floor, we scan the leafy rafters, entirely overlooking the living world in the soil beneath out feet. The forest‘s basement is a secret world. As different from our own world as water is from air, the soil seems quiet, even dead. But life bustles down below: a cubic inch of topsoil may contain billions of creatures. Predators and prey roam beneath as well as above the forest floor. Furthermore, those upstairs and downstairs forest denizens live closely linked lives soil-dwelling bacteria and fungi break down deal organic matter into molecules that above ground plants use for food. Those plants, as well as animals, mature and die, leaving more organic matter to fuel the folks downstairs. Like a well -insulated house, the soil protected its tenants from extreme temperatures, and from rain and snow. It also provides a bulwark against predators that roam the surface world. But the dense, protecting soil also limits mobility. Soil creatures must be specially equipped in order to travel easily through their dark, constricting realm. Earthworms and ants are the champion earth-movers, creating channels that allow air and water to enter the soil. Whileants travel relatively far from their nests, earthworms work small areas, reprocessing vast amount of soil into fertile “waste”. In a single year, as much as 36 tons of soil may pass through the alimentary tracts of all the earthworms living in an acre of soil.
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