Earth biology
In the soil, the main biological role, in purely quantitative terms, is played by micro-organisms and in fact, researches have been concentrated mainly on fungi and bacteria. However, if it is true that micro-organisms represent the living creatures that are most ‘present’ in the hypogeal environment, it is also true that they alone cannot explain all the ecological phenomena that take place in the soil. For example, knowledge regarding the relations that concern the higher levels of the soil food chains is still rather poor. The consequence of this delay is a still incomplete and inadequate knowledge of biopedological dynamics. Many phenomena that are, for example, connected to the nutrient cycle, in fact concern organisms that occupy very different positions in the ecological networks of the soil and are still not well known to date. In spite of the difficulties, some studies have clarified the identity of single species that normally live in the soil and this has lead to the possibility of formulating some hypotheses on their ecological functions.
Today, the role of particular biological groups can be studied in different ways and allow the elaboration of a sort of organizational chart of hypogeal ecology. A principle often used when classifying these biological groups takes their dimensions into account. As a result, five fundamental categories of hypogeal organisms have been identified:
- microflora: bacteria and fungi;
- microfauna: protozoa and nematodes;
- mesofauna: springtails, mites, enchytraeids (potworms) and others;
- macrofauna: isopods, molluscs, miriapods, earthworms and others;
- megafauna: amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
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This image was taken by the ASTER sensor installed on the NASA TERRA satellite platform. The image was taken on…
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Have you ever wondered how much space is taken up by an apple or a steak?...
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According to the international journal Nature, the year that has just begun will bring with it major scientific and technological…
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From the Multimedia section
Facts
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Laterite and bauxite deposits
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And in underground tunnels?
There are groups of terrestrial animals that eat insects, worms and other invertebrates...
What about the permafrost?
In Sub Arctic Swedish regions, some scientists studied the changes of permafrost...
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The most populated cities in the world
In the last 50 years the world population has passed from 2.5 billion to 6 billion...
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Mountains on the Earth
The different landscapes that we analysed in the previous section are distributed...
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24 February 2011
Laterite and bauxite deposits
These deposits can be observed in those tropical areas that are characterized by...
And in underground tunnels?
There are groups of terrestrial animals that eat insects, worms and other invertebrates...
-
What about the permafrost?
In Sub Arctic Swedish regions, some scientists studied the changes of permafrost...
-
The most populated cities in the world
In the last 50 years the world population has passed from 2.5 billion to 6 billion...
-
24 February 2011
Laterite and bauxite deposits
These deposits can be observed in those tropical areas that are characterized by...
-
And in underground tunnels?
There are groups of terrestrial animals that eat insects, worms and other invertebrates...
-
What about the permafrost?
In Sub Arctic Swedish regions, some scientists studied the changes of permafrost...