Exploring the Synergy of Soil-Animal Interactions: A Blueprint for Biodiversity Preservation

Introduction

At the heart of terrestrial ecosystems lies a dynamic interplay among soil, flora, and fauna, shaping the intricate network of life crucial for the survival of all species. Soil plays a crucial role as the essential groundwork for the advancement of plant groupings, delivering important nutrients, moisture, and structural support. Through photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into organic matter and oxygen, while also stabilizing the soil and preventing erosion. Nevertheless, the often-underestimated role of animals completes this ecological triad, enhancing soil ecosystems through diverse interactions and contributing to the resilience and sustainability of terrestrial environments. The kingdom Animalia encompasses an incredibly vast array of species, with 1,552,319 formally described species according to (Zhang, 2011). However, there are many more species yet to be formally documented and described. Some of these species’ group like earthworms, nematodes, collembola, mites, centipedes, millepedes, coleopterans, etc. are closely associated with the soil ecosystem. They play a vital role in controlling microbial pathogens (Gorres & Amador, 2021), changing microbial community composition (Kicaj, 2023), enhancing primary production, and soil formation (Ertiban, 2019).

The animal population in soil habitats encompasses a wide array of organisms, ranging from minuscule nematodes and earthworms to burrowing mammals and ground-dwelling insects. These underground creatures play crucial roles in processes like nutrient cycling, decomposition, soil aeration, and seed dispersal, greatly impacting the operation and stability of ecosystems. For instance, earthworms enhance soil quality and fertility through their burrowing activities, facilitating better water infiltration and nutrient dispersion. Similarly, decomposers like dung beetles accelerate the breakdown of organic matter, recycling nutrients and enhancing soil fertility. Moreover, soil-dwelling animals represent essential components of intricate food chains, serving as both prey for higher trophic levels and predators of soil-borne pests and diseases. Predatory soil mites, for instance, control the populations of plant-parasitic nematodes, thereby reducing crop damage and enhancing plant vitality. By residing in diverse ecological niches and engaging in intricate trophic interactions, soil-dwelling creatures are essential for maintaining the stability and resilience of soil ecosystems, assisting in mitigating environmental fluctuations and safeguarding biodiversity.

The health and resilience of ecosystems are inextricably linked to the maintenance of animal biodiversity within soil. As mentioned earlier, activities of a wide variety of life forms contribute to the dynamics of soil health. Starting from the smallest life forms, i.e. microorganisms; Soils can contain a large amount of microbial biomass including protists, fungi, viruses and bacteria (Fierer, 2017) which together forms microbiome whose more than 40 soil microbiome functions effect the health of the soil as well as the biotic component of the ecosystem directly or indirectly (Banerjee & Van der Heijden, 2023). The larger life forms like mega-mammals, shapes up the dynamics of entire ecosystem, for instance, Rhinos in the Indo-Nepal Terai are known to create open spaces in a dense vegetation by grazing. This creates a habitat for the variety of grasses, while their wallowing behaviour in which a rhino rolls in the soil or water to get rid of the ectoparasites and creates depression in the ground which eventually collects water. This creates a space for various aquatic plants and animals to thrive. It is understood that a mammal of weighing more than one tonne strolling across a landscape is going to influence a significant change on soil dynamics and ultimately the vegetation of the area. Thus, it is clear that soil-plant-animal interactions range from dynamics at smallest of molecular level, to the largest of ecosystem level. Therefore, this subject is going to have a wide range of possibilities. However, even if there are numerous possibilities, ecosystems tend to remain stable if certain environmental factors (abiotic or biotic) remain relatively stable.