What are the microbes that deatroy chemical pesticides in soil introduction 100 words?
Answers
There is a symbiotic relationship between microbes and plant life in a natural soil environment. Plants like grass, trees and food crops depend on microorganisms in the soil to obtain water, ward off dangerous organisms, prevent nutrient loss and break down compounds that could inhibit growth. Soil microbes, in return, benefit from the health of plants growing in the soil. This relationship creates a dynamic living system that is easily broken by human systems that use pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. The chemicals humans use to enhance plant growth can actually destroy the soil system, killing or causing mutation pressure on the soil microbes that all other organisms in the ecosystem need to survive.
What Soil Microbes Do for the Ecosystem
A small handful of healthy soil will include billions of microscopic organisms including fungi, nematodes, protozoa, micro-arthropods and other beneficial bacteria. These microbes decompose organic material while they absorb water and nutrients that would otherwise get lost in the soil; the absorbed water and nutrients is then used by more and more complex creatures. This ecosystem ranges from the tiniest bacteria to the largest mammal predators. Any damage suffered by one part of the system can affect the health of all the others.
Three Levels of the Soil Ecosystem
The first level of the soil ecosystem consists of bacteria and fungi that consume leftover organic matter, nitrogen and nutrients. These organisms act like a nutrient bank that plants can use when they need it. The second level of organisms consists of predators that feed on the bacteria and fungi. Nitrogen and nutrients are metabolized and released into the soil at a slow rate that is beneficial to plant growth. Higher-level predators, like millipedes and earthworms, make up the third level. These animals keep the second-level organisms in check, helping the plants maintain a healthy growth rate. The third level is also made up of bigger predators that keep the smaller ones from over eating. This extensive bio-diversity is what makes all life in the soil ecosystem possible.
How Pesticides Affect Soil Microbes