Autoria: BROWN, G. G.; SWIFT, M. J.; BENNACK, D. E.; BUNNING, S.; MONTAÑEZ, A.; BRUSSAARD, L.

Resumo: Soil is not just an agglomeration of a little organic matter and mineral particles with ions that can be used by plants. It is a living entity and the home of countless organisms whose diversity may even surpass that of those living above ground, outside the soil. Soil systems contain among the most diverse yet disparate assemblages of organisms on Earth (Brussaard et al. 1997; Giller et al. 1997; Wall and Moore 1999). These organisms have a broad range of body sizes, feeding strategies, and life habits, ftom strictly aquatic to obligatorily terrestrial (Bater 1996). They range in size from the tiniest one-celled bacteria, alpae, fungi, and protozoa to the more complex nematodes and micro-arthropods and the visible earthworms, insects, small vertebrates, and plants. This community of organisms makes up the soil food web: the interactions and conversions of energy and nutrients between the primary producers (plants, lichens, moss, photosynthetic bacteria, and algae), the soil organisms that consume organic compounds derived from plants, other organisms and waste byproducts, and a few bacteria that obtain their energy ftom mineral compounds. The diversity of life in the soil (soil biological diversity) exists and interacts at genetic, interspecies, and ecological levels. It is convenient to think of it as the sum of all the organisms that spend some portion of their life cycle in the soil or on its immediate surface, including the surface litter and decaying organic matter (om).

Ano de publicação: 2007

Tipo de publicação: Parte de livro (capítulos de livros, trabalhos e resumos publicados em anais ou em coletâneas)

Unidade: Embrapa Florestas

Palavras-chave: Biodiversidade, Ecossistema, Manejo, Solo