The Nature and Properties of Soils: Introduction
Did you know that every handful of soil you pick up out of your backyard likely contains millions and millions of living organisms? While it is hard to imagine, soil is one of the most "alive" things on the planet. It is home to many millions of microorganisms and to larger animals, too, such as earthworms, millipedes, insects, moles, and other burrowing mammals. Consider that each small teaspoon full of soil contains, on average:
- 5 billion individual bacteria
- 5 thousand round worms
- several thousand threads of fungus
- a hundred insects or other organisms
And of course, soil is the habitat of almost all plants on Earth. This makes soil an important natural resource. This section introduces the properties and classes of soil and how to conserve our important soil supplies on Earth.
