Soils are alive

Who call soils home?

While soils provide us with goods ranging from food to furniture and help regulate water quality and climate, they also serve another essential function: supporting the habitat for an astonishing diversity of life. But have you ever wondered who lives just beneath your feet?

The neighbours below ground range from microscopic bacteria, archaea, and fungi to springtails, woodlice, earthworms, insects, mammals such as mice or foxes, among many others. If you live near rivers, cliffs, or open soil banks, you might also encounter birds such as bee-eaters or kingfishers nesting in tunnels excavated into the soil.

Left: Earthworm, Middle: Woodlice (isopods), Right: Springtails, © Sabine Huber/BOKU University

While many insects spend their adult lives above ground, part of their life cycle often takes place below the surface. For example, the larvae of cockchafers (May beetles) can spend several years living in the soil before emerging as flying adults.

At this very moment, countless organisms - from microbes invisible to the naked eye to animals large enough to leave burrows and tracks - are growing, feeding, and preparing for life above ground beneath your feet.

If you would like to learn more about organisms living in soil or prefer more visual learning material, you may refer to Figures 1 and 3 in an article by Anthony et al. (2023).

Furthermore, the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas and the European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity reveal just how diverse and amazing soil organisms are. Both atlases provide high quality images and information.