Two-Thirds of the World's Biodiversity Lives in the Soil
taylorvich writes:
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-two-thirds-world-biodiversity-soil.html
Coral reefs, the deep sea or the treetops of the rainforests are considered the main hotspots of biodiversity. However, they all trail behind the soils. According to a new study, soils are the most species-rich ecosystems worldwide. Their importance for human nutrition is enormous, and the proportion of soils worldwide that are considered degraded or destroyed is growing steadily. A trio of researchers led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has now made the first estimate of global soil biodiversity.
[...] Since the data on soil diversity is extremely patchy-especially in the global South-the results of the study show huge ranges in some cases. For bacteria, for example, the mean value is 40% of species living in the soil-but the range extends from 25% to 88%. The uncertainties are also enormous for viruses, which are mainly studied as human pathogens. Accordingly, the authors are bracing themselves for some criticism of their methods and conclusions. "Our work is a first but important attempt to estimate what proportion of global biodiversity lives in the soil," says Anthony.
The goal, he says, is to provide the basis for much-needed decisions to protect soils and their creatures worldwide. "Soils are under enormous pressure, whether from agricultural intensification, climate change, invasive species and much more," Anthony points out. "Our study shows that the diversity in soils is great and correspondingly important, so they should be given much more consideration in conservation."
Journal Reference:
Mark A. Anthony et al, Enumerating soil biodiversity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2304663120
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