The hidden network of soil life: Understanding the soil food web

Soil is very much alive — and it matters

In Module 1, you learned that soil provides many important ecosystem services that support human life on land and overall well-being. These services are possible because soil is not only made up of minerals, water, air, and organic matter – it is also alive.

Beneath the surface under our feet lives a remarkable diversity of organisms, including bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, nematodes, earthworms, insects, mammals and many other animals. Together, they form complex communities that interact continuously with one another and with their physical environment. Through these interactions, soil organisms decompose organic matter, recycle nutrients, mix soil layers and transport organic material deeper into the soil profile through bioturbation, influence plant growth, regulate water movement, and contribute to many other processes that support life above ground.

In this lesson, you will explore how these organisms are connected through the soil food web and discover why interactions between them are just as important as the organisms themselves.

Before moving on, you are invited to follow the journey of a springtail in the video “The leap beneath | A Journey into the Hidden World of Soil Fauna”. It lasts approximately 4.5 minutes, was produced by Wild Reach Productions and provides spectacular footage of a variety of soil organisms.

If you want to read more on this topic, we recommend an article by Bardgett & van der Putten (2014), the extensive Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas by Orgiazzi et al. (2016), or an interesting report by FAO (2020).