Report on soil animals. Underground animals - who live underground

Our planet is formed by four main shells: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. All of them are in close interaction with each other, since representatives of the biosphere - animals, plants, microorganisms - cannot exist without such formative substances as water and oxygen.

Just like the lithosphere, the soil cover and other deep-lying layers cannot exist in isolation. Although we cannot see it with the naked eye, the soil is very densely populated. What kind of living creatures does not live in it! Like any living organisms, they also need water and air.

What animals live in the soil? How do they influence its formation and how do they adapt to such an environment? We will try to answer these and other questions in this article.

What types of soils are there?

Soil is only the uppermost, very shallow layer that makes up the lithosphere. Its depth goes to about 1-1.5 m. Then a completely different layer begins, in which groundwater flows.

That is, the top fertile layer of soil is the very habitat of living organisms and plants of various shapes, sizes and methods of nutrition. The soil, as a habitat for animals, is very rich and diverse.

This structural part of the lithosphere is not the same. The formation of the soil layer depends on many factors, mainly on the conditions environment. Therefore, the types of soil (fertile layer) also differ:

Podzolic and sod-podzolic.
Chernozem.
Turf.
Swamp.
Podzolic-marsh.
Solody.
Floodplain.
Salt marshes.
Gray forest-steppe.
Solonetz.

This classification is given only for the area of Russia. In other countries, continents, and parts of the world, there are other types of soils (sandy, clayey, arctic-tundra, humus, and so on).

Also, all soils are not the same chemical composition, moisture supply and air saturation. These indicators vary and depend on a number of conditions (for example, this is influenced by animals in the soil, which will be discussed below).

and who helps them with this?

Soils date back to the appearance of life on our planet. It was with the formation of living systems that the slow, continuous and self-renewing formation of soil substrates began.

Based on this, it is clear that living organisms play a certain role in soil formation. Which one? Basically, this role comes down to processing organic substances contained in the soil and enriching it with mineral elements. It also loosens and improves aeration. M.V. Lomonosov wrote very well about this in 1763. It was he who first stated that the soil is formed due to the death of living beings.

In addition to the activities carried out by animals in the soil and plants on its surface, rocks are a very important factor in the formation of the fertile layer. The type of soil will generally depend on their variety.

light;
humidity;
temperature.

As a result, rocks are processed under the influence of abiotic factors, and microorganisms living in the soil decompose animal and plant remains, turning them into mineral ones. As a result, a certain type of fertile soil layer is formed. At the same time, animals living underground (for example, worms, nematodes, moles) provide its aeration, that is, oxygen saturation. This is achieved by loosening and constantly recycling soil particles.

Animals and plants together produce Microorganisms, protozoa, unicellular fungi and algae, this substance is processed and converted into the desired form of mineral elements. Worms, nematodes and other animals again pass soil particles through themselves, thereby forming organic fertilizer - vermicompost.

Hence the conclusion: soils are formed from rocks as a result of a long historical period of time under the influence of abiotic factors and with the help provided by the animals and plants living in them.

The invisible world of soil

A huge role not only in the formation of soil, but also in the life of all other living beings is played by the smallest creatures, forming an entire invisible world of soil. Who belongs to them?

Firstly, unicellular algae and fungi. Among the fungi, one can distinguish the divisions of chytridiomycetes, deuteromycetes and some representatives of zygomycetes. Of the algae, phytoedaphons should be noted, which are green and blue-green algae. The total mass of these creatures per 1 hectare of soil cover is approximately 3100 kg.

Secondly, these are numerous and such animals in the soil as protozoa. The total mass of these living systems per 1 hectare of soil is approximately 3100 kg. The main role of single-celled organisms is to process and decompose organic residues of plant and animal origin.

The most common of these organisms include:

rotifers;
mites;
amoeba;
centipedes symphylos;
protury;
springtails;
double tails;
blue-green algae;
green unicellular algae.

What animals live in the soil?

Soil inhabitants include the following invertebrate animals:

Small crustaceans (crustaceans) - about 40 kg/ha
Insects and their larvae - 1000 kg/ha
Nematodes and roundworms - 550 kg/ha
Snails and slugs - 40 kg/ha

Such soil-dwelling animals are very important. Their importance is determined by their ability to pass soil lumps through themselves and saturate them with organic substances, forming vermicompost. Their role is also to loosen the soil, improve oxygen saturation and create voids that are filled with air and water, resulting in increased fertility and quality of the top layer of soil.

Let's look at what animals live in the soil. They can be divided into two types:

permanent residents;
temporary residents.

To the permanent vertebrate mammal inhabitants, representing animal world soils include mole rats, mole rats, zokors and their importance comes down to maintenance since they are saturated with soil insects, snails, mollusks, slugs and so on. And the second meaning is digging long and winding passages, allowing the soil to be moistened and enriched with oxygen.

Temporary inhabitants representing the fauna of the soil use it only for short-term shelter, as a rule, as a place for laying and storing larvae. Such animals include:

jerboas;
gophers;
badgers;
beetles;
cockroaches;
other types of rodents.

Adaptations of soil inhabitants

In order to live in such a difficult environment as soil, animals must have a number of special adaptations. After all, according to physical characteristics this environment is dense, hard and low in oxygen. In addition, there is absolutely no light in it, although there is a moderate amount of water. Naturally, you need to be able to adapt to such conditions.

Therefore, animals that live in the soil, over time (during evolutionary processes) acquired the following features:

extremely small sizes to fill the tiny spaces between soil particles and feel comfortable there (bacteria, protozoa, microorganisms, rotifers, crustaceans);
flexible body and very strong muscles - advantages for movement in the soil (ringed and roundworms);
the ability to absorb oxygen dissolved in water or breathe over the entire surface of the body (bacteria, nematodes);
life cycle consisting of a larval stage, during which neither light, moisture, nor nutrition is required (larvae of insects, various beetles);
larger animals have adaptations in the form of powerful burrowing limbs with strong claws, which make it easy to dig through long and winding passages underground (moles, shrews, badgers, and so on);
Mammals have a well-developed sense of smell, but practically no vision (moles, zokora, mole rats, mole rats);
the body is streamlined, dense, compressed, with short, hard, close-fitting fur.

All these devices create such comfortable conditions that animals in the soil feel no worse than those living in the ground-air environment, and perhaps even better.

The role of ecological groups of soil inhabitants in nature

The main ecological groups of soil inhabitants are considered to be:

Geobionts. Representatives of this group are animals for which soil is their permanent habitat. Their entire life cycle takes place in it in combination with the basic processes of life. Examples: multi-tailed, tailless, double-tailed, tailless.
Geophiles. This group includes animals for which soil is an obligatory substrate during one of the phases of their life cycle. For example: insect pupae, locusts, many beetles, weevil mosquitoes.
Geoxenes. Environmental group animals for which the soil is a temporary shelter, a refuge, a place for laying and breeding offspring. Examples: many beetles, insects, all burrowing animals.

The totality of all animals of each group is an important link in the overall food chain. In addition, their vital activity determines the quality of soils, their self-renewal and fertility. Therefore, their role is extremely important, especially in modern world, in which agriculture forces soils to become poor, leached and salted out by chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Animal soils contribute to a faster and more natural restoration of the fertile layer after severe mechanical and chemical attacks from humans.

The connection between plants, animals and soils

Not only animal soils are interconnected, forming a common biocenosis with its own food chains and ecological niches. Actually everything existing plants, animals and microorganisms are involved in a single circle of life. Just like all of them are connected with all habitats. Let's give a simple example to illustrate this relationship.

The grasses of meadows and fields provide food for terrestrial animals. These, in turn, serve as a source of food for predators. The remains of grass and organic matter, which are excreted with the waste products of all animals, end up in the soil. Here microorganisms and insects, which are detritivores, get to work. They decompose all residues and convert them into minerals that are convenient for absorption by plants. Thus, plants receive the components they need for growth and development.

In the soil itself, microorganisms and insects, rotifers, beetles, larvae, worms, and so on become food for each other, and therefore common part the entire power network.

Thus, it turns out that animals living in the soil and plants living on its surface have common points of intersection and interact with each other, forming a single general harmony and force of nature.

Poor soils and their inhabitants

Soils that have been repeatedly exposed to human influence are called poor. Construction, cultivation of agricultural plants, drainage, land reclamation - all this leads to soil depletion over time. What inhabitants can survive in such conditions? Unfortunately, not many. The most resilient underground inhabitants are bacteria, some protozoa, insects, as well as their larvae. Mammals, worms, nematodes, locusts, spiders, and crustaceans cannot survive in such soils, so they die or leave them.

Poor soils also include soils that have a low content of organic and minerals. For example, quick sand. This is a special environment in which certain organisms live with their own adaptations. Or, for example, saline and highly acidic soils also contain only specific inhabitants.

Studying soil animals at school

The school zoology course does not provide for the study of soil animals in a separate lesson. Most often, it's simple short review in the context of a topic.

However, in primary school there is such a thing as " The world"Animals in the soil are studied in great detail as part of the program of this subject. Information is presented according to the age of the children. Kids are told about the diversity, role in nature and economic activity human beings played by animals in the soil. 3rd grade is the most suitable age for this. Children are already educated enough to learn some terminology, and at the same time they have a great thirst for knowledge, for understanding everything around them, studying nature and its inhabitants.

The main thing is to make the lessons interesting, non-standard, and also informative, and then children will absorb knowledge like sponges, including about the inhabitants of the soil environment.

Examples of animals living in soil environments

You can cite short list, reflecting the main soil inhabitants. Naturally, it won’t be possible to make it complete, because there are so many of them! However, we will try to name the main representatives.

Soil animals - list:

rotifers, mites, bacteria, protozoa, crustaceans;
spiders, locusts, insects, beetles, millipedes, wood lice, slugs, snails;
nematodes and other roundworms;
moles, mole rats, mole rats, zokors;
jerboas, gophers, badgers, mice, chipmunks.

What animals live in the soil? and got the best answer

Answer from Yatyan[active]
Living organisms - inhabited soils
Various living organisms live in the soil - bacteria, microscopic fungi, small animals. Life in the soil is associated with a lack of light, difficulties in movement, high humidity or lack of water, and a large number of dying plant roots and plant debris on its surface.
Living organisms living in the soil have various adaptations to soil environment. A mole, for example, has short front legs and faces not downwards, like those of land animals, but to the sides: the wide hands are turned back. The fingers with strong, sharp claws are connected by a leathery membrane. With such legs, the mole easily loosens the soil and makes holes in it. The mole's eyes are underdeveloped and hidden by fur. With them he distinguishes only light from darkness. The insect mole cricket has front legs, like those of a mole, digging, and the eyes are less developed than those of the cockchafer.
Moles and mole crickets constantly live in the soil. They can move from layers in which unfavorable living conditions are created to other layers of the soil. During drought and winter they move to deeper layers. In contrast, gophers, marmots, badgers, and rabbits feed on the surface of the soil, and in the burrows they make in the soil they reproduce, out of danger and bad weather.
Plants have developed adaptations, including root systems, to the dryness or moisture of the soil. On soils with a lack of moisture, plants form powerful roots reaching groundwater. Camel thorn, which grows in deserts, has roots that go down to a depth of 20 m.
In plants growing in highly humid places, the roots are located close to the surface of the soil, since in deeper layers, where water displaces all the air, the plant roots do not have enough air.
The soil is constantly inhabited by many invertebrate animals - ants, centipedes, worms, mites, beetles, larvae of beetles and flies, slugs, etc. All of them have adapted to life in the soil environment in their own way and play important role in soil formation processes. Among them, the largest mass is made up of earthworms. The total mass of earthworms on Earth is 10 times greater than the mass of all humanity!

Answer from Yoman Lazarev[active]
moles, for example...

Answer from Joni[guru]
moles!

Answer from ABRAM[guru]
small, gray, lives 3 meters underground and eats stones

Answer from VladCo[guru]
All animals live in the ground, because they have burrows there, but most of them lead a terrestrial lifestyle. Moles, shrews, and dormice are almost always underground (3/4 years)

Answer from Olga Perminova[newbie]
for example: mole, earthworm

Answer from Kristina Protopopova[newbie]
Thank you!!! very detailed and clear

Answer from Lika[newbie]
Not only do they “work” in the soil earthworms, but also their closest relatives are smaller whitish ones annelids(enchytraeids, or pot worms), as well as some types of microscopic roundworms (nematodes), small mites, various insects, especially their larvae, and, finally, woodlice, centipedes and even snails.
The purely mechanical work of many animals living in it also affects the soil. They make passages, mix and loosen the soil, and dig holes. All this increases the number of voids in the soil and facilitates the penetration of air and water into its depths. This “work” involves not only relatively small invertebrate animals, but also many mammals - moles, marmots, ground squirrels, jerboas, field and forest mice, hamsters, voles, and mole rats. The relatively large passages of some of these animals go 1-4 m deep. The passages of large earthworms also go deep: in most of them they reach 1.5-2 m, and in one southern worm even 8 m. Along these passages, especially in denser soils, plant roots penetrate deeper. In some places, such as steppe zone, a large number of passages and holes are dug in the soil by dung beetles, mole crickets, crickets, tarantula spiders, ants, and in the tropics - termites.

Answer from Yorgey Blinov[newbie]
Worms, mole crickets, ants, mole, antlion....

Answer from Marina Karpushkina[newbie]
Well, for example, a bear, a mole, a dormouse, and a fox

Answer from Jurassic blue[newbie]
moles

Answer from Natalie[newbie]
mole worm spider bugs...
well, I do not know

Answer from Polina Yakovleva[newbie]
centipede, mole cricket, mole, earthworm.

As a habitat for animals, soil is very different from water and air. Try waving your hand in the air - you will notice almost no resistance. Do the same in water - you will feel significant resistance from the environment. And if you put your hand in a hole and cover it with earth, it will be difficult to pull it back out. It is clear that animals can move relatively quickly in the soil only in natural voids, cracks or previously dug passages. If there is nothing of this in the way, then the animal can advance only by breaking through a passage and raking the earth back or swallowing the earth and passing it through the intestines. The speed of movement will, of course, be insignificant.
Every animal needs to breathe to live. The conditions for breathing in soil are different than in water or air. Soil consists of solid particles, water and air. Solid particles in the form of small lumps occupy slightly more than half of its volume; the rest falls on the gaps - pores, which can be filled with air (in dry soil) or water (in soil saturated with moisture). As a rule, water covers all soil particles with a thin film; the rest of the space between them is occupied by air saturated with water vapor.
Thanks to this structure of the soil, numerous animals live in it and breathe through their skin. If you take them out of the ground, they quickly die from drying out. Furthermore, hundreds of species of true freshwater animals live in the soil, inhabiting rivers, ponds and swamps. True, these are all microscopic creatures - lower worms and single-celled protozoa. They move and float in a film of water covering soil particles. If the soil dries out, these animals secrete a protective shell and seem to fall asleep.

An earthworm drags a fallen leaf into its burrow.

Soil air receives oxygen from the atmosphere: its amount in the soil is 1-2% less than in atmospheric air. Oxygen is consumed in the soil by animals, microorganisms, and plant roots. They all emit carbon dioxide. There is 10-15 times more of it in soil air than in the atmosphere. Free gas exchange between soil and atmospheric air occurs only if the pores between the solid particles are not completely filled with water. After heavy rains or in the spring, after the snow melts, the soil is saturated with water. There is not enough air in the soil, and under the threat of death, many animals leave it. This explains the appearance of earthworms on the surface after heavy rains.
Among soil animals there are also predators and those that feed on parts of living plants, mainly roots. There are also consumers of decomposing plant and animal residues in the soil - perhaps bacteria also play a significant role in their nutrition.
Soil animals find their food either in the soil itself or on its surface.
The life activity of many of them is very useful. The activity of earthworms is especially useful. They drag a huge amount of plant debris into their burrows, which contributes to the formation of humus and returns substances extracted from it by plant roots to the soil.
In forest soils, invertebrates, especially earthworms, process more than half of all leaf litter. Over the course of a year, on each hectare, they throw out to the surface up to 25-30 tons of land they have processed, turned into good, structural soil. If you distribute this soil evenly over the entire surface of a hectare, you will get a layer of 0.5-0.8 cm. Therefore, it is not for nothing that earthworms are considered the most important soil builders. Not only earthworms “work” in the soil, but also their closest relatives - smaller whitish annelids (enchytraeids, or pot worms), as well as some types of microscopic roundworms (nematodes), small mites, various insects, especially their larvae, and finally woodlice, millipedes and even snails.

Medvedka.

The purely mechanical work of many animals living in it also affects the soil. They make passages, mix and loosen the soil, and dig holes. All this increases the number of voids in the soil and facilitates the penetration of air and water into its depth.
This “work” involves not only relatively small invertebrate animals, but also many mammals - moles, shrews, marmots, gophers, jerboas, field and forest mice, hamsters, voles, and mole rats. The relatively large passages of some of these animals go deep from 1 to 4 m.
The passages of large earthworms go even deeper: in most of them they reach 1.5-2 m, and in one southern worm even 8 m. These passages, especially in denser soils, are constantly used by plant roots penetrating into the depths. In some places, for example in the steppe zone, a large number of passages and holes are dug in the soil by dung beetles, mole crickets, crickets, tarantula spiders, ants, and in the tropics - termites.
Many soil animals feed on roots, tubers, and plant bulbs. Those that attack cultivated plants or forest plantations are considered pests, for example the cockchafer. Its larva lives in the soil for about four years and pupates there. In the first year of life, it feeds mainly on the roots of herbaceous plants. But, as it grows, the larva begins to feed on the roots of trees, especially young pines, and causes great harm to the forest or forest plantations.

Mole paws are well adapted for life in the soil.

The larvae of click beetles, darkling beetles, weevils, pollen eaters, caterpillars of some butterflies, such as cutworms, the larvae of many flies, cicadas and, finally, root aphids, such as phylloxera, also feed on the roots of various plants, greatly harming them.
A large number of insects that damage the above-ground parts of plants - stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, lay eggs in the soil; Here, the larvae that emerge from the eggs hide during drought, overwinter, and pupate. Soil pests include some species of mites and centipedes, naked slugs and extremely numerous microscopic roundworms - nematodes. Nematodes penetrate from the soil into the roots of plants and disrupt their normal functioning. There are many predators living in the soil. “Peaceful” moles and shrews eat huge amounts of earthworms, snails and insect larvae; they even attack frogs, lizards and mice. These animals eat almost continuously. For example, a shrew eats an amount of living creatures per day equal to its own weight!
There are predators among almost all groups of invertebrates living in the soil. Large ciliates feed not only on bacteria, but also on protozoa, such as flagellates. The ciliates themselves serve as prey for some roundworms. Predatory mites attack other mites and small insects. Thin, long, pale-colored geophilic centipedes that live in soil cracks, as well as larger dark-colored drupes and centipedes that stay under stones and in stumps, are also predators. They feed on insects and their larvae, worms and other small animals. Predators include spiders and related haymakers (“mow-mow-leg”). Many of them live on the soil surface, in the litter, or under objects lying on the ground.

An antlion larva at the bottom of a sand funnel she created.

based on materials from the site vet.apteka.uz

We have known these animals since childhood. They live in the soil, under our feet: lazy earthworms, clumsy larvae, nimble centipedes are born from earthen lumps crumbling under a shovel. Often we disdainfully throw them aside or immediately destroy them as pests of garden plants. How many of these creatures inhabit the soil and who are they? friends or enemies?

The study of soil-dwelling animals is the subject of a special branch of science - soil zoology, which was formed only in the last century. After specialists developed methods for recording and recording these animals, which was associated with significant technical difficulties, a whole kingdom of creatures appeared before the eyes of zoologists, diverse in structure, lifestyle and their significance in the natural processes occurring in the soil. In terms of biological diversity, the fauna of the soil can only be compared with coral reefs- a classic example of the richest and most diverse natural communities on our planet.

Gullivers are here too, it seems earthworms, and Lilliputians, who cannot be seen with the naked eye. In addition to their small sizes (up to 1 mm), most soil-dwelling invertebrate animals also have an inconspicuous coloring of the body covers, whitish or gray, so they can only be seen after special treatment with fixatives, under a magnifying glass or microscope. Lilliputians form the basis of the animal population of the soil, the biomass of which reaches hundreds of centners per hectare. If we talk about the number of earthworms and other large invertebrates, then it is measured in tens and hundreds per 1 m2, and small forms - in hundreds of thousands and even millions of individuals. Here, for example, are the simplest and roundworms (nematodes), with body sizes up to one hundredth of a millimeter. In terms of their physiology, these are typically aquatic creatures capable of breathing oxygen dissolved in water. The smallest sizes allow such animals to be content with microscopic droplets of moisture filling narrow soil cavities. There they move, find food, and reproduce. When the soil dries out, these creatures are able to remain in an inactive state for a long time, becoming covered on the outside with a dense protective shell of solidified secretions.

The larger Lilliputians include soil mites, springtails, and small worms - the closest relatives of earthworms. These are already real land animals. They breathe atmospheric oxygen, inhabit airborne subsoil cavities, root passages, and burrows of larger invertebrates. Their small size and flexible body allow them to use even the narrowest gaps between soil particles and penetrate into the deep horizons of dense loamy soils. For example, oribatid mites go 1.5-2 m deep. For these small soil inhabitants, the soil is also not a dense mass, but a system of passages and cavities connected to each other. Animals live on their walls, like in caves. Overmoistening of the soil turns out to be just as unfavorable for its inhabitants as drying out.

Soil invertebrates with body sizes larger than 2 mm are clearly visible. Here we encounter various groups of worms, terrestrial mollusks, crustaceans (woodlice, amphipods), spiders, harvestmen, pseudoscorpions, centipedes, ants, termites, larvae (beetles, dipterous and hymenopteran insects), and butterfly caterpillars. The inhabitants of the underground kingdom also include some species of vertebrates that live in burrows and feed on soil invertebrates or plant roots. These are the well-known moles, gophers, etc. The soil passages are too small for them, so the giants had to acquire special devices for moving in dense substrate.

Earthworms and some insect larvae have highly developed muscles. By contracting their muscles, they increase the diameter of their body and push soil particles apart. Worms swallow soil, pass it through their intestines and move forward, as if eating through the soil. Behind them they leave their excrement with metabolic products and mucus, abundantly secreted in the intestinal cavity. The worms cover the surface of the burrow with these mucous lumps, strengthening its walls, so such burrows remain in the soil for a long time.

And insect larvae have special formations on the limbs, head, and sometimes on the back, with which they act like a shovel, scraper or pick. For example, the front legs are transformed into highly specialized digging tools - they are expanded, with jagged edges. These scrapers are capable of loosening even very dry soil. In beetle larvae, which dig to a considerable depth, the upper jaws, which have the form of triangular pyramids with a jagged top and powerful ridges on the sides, serve as loosening tools. The larva hits the soil lump with these jaws, breaks it into small particles and scoops them up under itself.

Other large inhabitants soils live in existing cavities. They are usually very flexible thin body and can penetrate very narrow and winding passages.

The burrowing activity of animals has great importance for soil. The system of passages improves its aeration, which favors root growth and the development of aerobic microbial processes associated with humification and mineralization of organic material. It is not for nothing that Charles Darwin wrote that long before man invented the plow, earthworms learned to cultivate the soil correctly and well. He dedicated a special book to them, “The Formation of the Soil Layer by Earthworms and Observations on the Lifestyle of the latter.”

IN last years There are many publications about these animals that can quickly process plant residues, manure, household waste, turning them into high quality " vermicompost" In many countries, including ours, they have learned to breed worms on special farms to produce organic fertilizers and as a source of feed protein for fish and poultry.

The following examples will help to evaluate the contribution of invisible soil organisms in the formation of its structure. Thus, ants building soil nests throw more than a ton of soil per 1 hectare to the surface from deep layers of soil. In 8-10 years they process almost the entire horizon populated by them. And desert wood lice, living in Central Asia, lift soil enriched with elements of mineral nutrition for plants from a depth of 50-80 cm to the surface. Where the colonies of these woodlice are located, the vegetation is taller and denser. Earthworms are capable of processing up to 110 tons of earth per 1 hectare per year. This is on our soddy-podzolic soils near Moscow.

Moving in the ground and feeding on dead plant debris, animals mix organic and mineral soil particles. By dragging ground litter into deep layers, they thereby improve the aeration of these layers, contribute to the activation of microbial processes, which leads to the enrichment of the soil with humus and nutrients. It is animals who, through their activities, create the humus horizon and soil structure.

Man has learned to fertilize it and get high yields. Does this replace animal activities? To some extent, yes. But with intensive land use using modern methods, when the soil is overloaded with chemicals (mineral fertilizers, pesticides, growth stimulants), with frequent disturbances of its surface layer and its compaction by agricultural machines, deep disturbances of natural processes occur, which lead to gradual soil degradation and a decrease in its fertility. Excessive amounts of mineral fertilizers poison the soil and deteriorate the quality of agricultural products.

Chemical treatments destroy not only pests in the soil, but also beneficial animals. This damage takes years to repair. Today, during the period of greening of our economy and our thinking, it is worth thinking about what criteria to assess the damage caused to the crop. Until now, it was customary to count only losses from pests. But let's also count the losses caused to the soil itself from the death of soil formers.

To preserve the soil, this unique natural resource The earth, capable of self-restoring its fertility, must first of all preserve its animal world. Little visible and invisible workers are doing what a person with his powerful technology cannot yet do. They need to be protected not only in nature reserves and national parks, but also on lands used by humans. Animals need a stable environment. They need oxygen in the system of passages made and a supply of organic residues, shelters that are not disturbed by humans, where animals breed and find shelter from cold and drought. And we carefully remove the remains of roots and stems from the beds, trample the soil around the beds, and apply mineral fertilizers that dramatically change the composition of the soil solution. Smart Management Agriculture, including homesteading - this is also the creation of suitable conditions for preserving the fauna of the soil - the key to its Seven years ago on its garden plot subject to water erosion, I switched to a sod-humus soil maintenance system. The site is located on the Volga slope with a slope of 30-50°...

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All around us: on the ground, in the grass, in the trees, in the air - life is in full swing everywhere. Even a resident who has never gone deep into the forest big city often sees birds, dragonflies, butterflies, flies, spiders and many other animals around him. The inhabitants of reservoirs are also well known to everyone. Everyone, at least occasionally, has seen schools of fish near the shore, water beetles or snails.
But there is a world hidden from us, inaccessible to direct observation - a peculiar world of soil animals.
There is eternal darkness there, you cannot penetrate there without destroying natural structure soil. And only isolated, accidentally noticed signs show that beneath the surface of the soil among the roots of plants there is a rich and diverse world animals. This is sometimes evidenced by mounds above mole holes, holes in gopher holes in the steppe or sand swallow holes in a cliff above the river, piles of earth on the path thrown out by earthworms, and the earthworms themselves crawling out after the rain, as well as masses unexpectedly appearing literally from underground winged ants or fat larvae of cockchafers that are caught when digging up the ground.
Soil is usually called the surface layer earth's crust on land, formed during the weathering of bedrock under the influence of water, wind, temperature fluctuations and the activities of plants, animals and humans. The most important property of soil, which distinguishes it from infertile parent rock, is fertility, i.e., the ability to produce a crop of plants.

As a habitat for animals, soil is very different from water and air. Try waving your hand in the air - you will notice almost no resistance. Do the same in water - you will feel significant resistance from the environment. And if you put your hand in a hole and cover it with earth, it will be difficult to pull it back out. It is clear that animals can move relatively quickly in the soil only in natural voids, cracks or previously dug passages. If there is nothing of this in the way, then the animal can advance only by breaking through a passage and raking the earth back or swallowing the earth and passing it through the intestines. The speed of movement will, of course, be insignificant.
Every animal needs to breathe to live. The conditions for breathing in soil are different than in water or air. Soil consists of solid particles, water and air. Solid particles in the form of small lumps occupy slightly more than half of its volume; the rest falls on the gaps - pores, which can be filled with air (in dry soil) or water (in soil saturated with moisture). As a rule, water covers all soil particles with a thin film; the rest of the space between them is occupied by air saturated with water vapor.
Thanks to this structure of the soil, numerous animals live in it and breathe through their skin. If you take them out of the ground, they quickly die from drying out. Moreover, hundreds of species of real freshwater animals live in the soil, inhabiting rivers, ponds and swamps. True, these are all microscopic creatures - lower worms and single-celled protozoa. They move and float in a film of water covering soil particles. If the soil dries out, these animals secrete a protective shell and seem to fall asleep.

Soil air receives oxygen from the atmosphere: its amount in the soil is 1-2% less than in atmospheric air. Oxygen is consumed in the soil by animals, microorganisms, and plant roots. They all emit carbon dioxide. There is 10-15 times more of it in soil air than in the atmosphere. Free gas exchange between soil and atmospheric air occurs only if the pores between solid particles are not completely filled with water. After heavy rains or in the spring, after the snow melts, the soil is saturated with water. There is not enough air in the soil, and under the threat of death, many animals leave it. This explains the appearance of earthworms on the surface after heavy rains.
Among soil animals there are also predators and those that feed on parts of living plants, mainly roots. There are also consumers of decomposing plant and animal residues in the soil - perhaps bacteria also play a significant role in their nutrition.
Soil animals find their food either in the soil itself or on its surface.
The life activity of many of them is very useful. The activity of earthworms is especially useful. They drag a huge amount of plant debris into their burrows, which contributes to the formation of humus and returns substances extracted from it by plant roots to the soil.
In forest soils, invertebrates, especially earthworms, process more than half of all leaf litter. Over the course of a year, on each hectare, they throw out to the surface up to 25-30 tons of land they have processed, turned into good, structural soil. If you distribute this soil evenly over the entire surface of a hectare, you will get a layer of 0.5-0.8 cm. Therefore, it is not for nothing that earthworms are considered the most important soil builders. Not only earthworms “work” in the soil, but also their closest relatives - smaller whitish annelids (enchytraeids, or pot worms), as well as some types of microscopic roundworms (nematodes), small mites, various insects, especially their larvae, and finally woodlice, millipedes and even snails.

Medvedka

Mole paws are well adapted for life in the soil.

Antlion larva.

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