The secret world beneath your feet (Fred Powledge)

Welcome to the AboutBiodiversity pages about soil!
Every time you step outside, whether it’s on plowed land, a path through the woods, a soccer field, or a neatly mowed lawn, you’re walking over millions and millions of living creatures.

Some, like earthworms and spiders and snails, are easy to spot. Others are visible if you’re patient and know what to look for. Still others (most of the living things that live beneath the surface of the soil, actually) are too small for you to see with your unaided eyes. You’ll need a microscope.

This chapter of the AboutBiodiversity Web Site introduces you to these creatures. You’ll learn:

  • the important role these organisms play in Earth’s storehouse of biodiversity

  • who they are, from earthworms to nematodes to snails and slugs and tiny fungi

  • what they do for a living (it’s probably a lot more than you thought)

  • the nature of their homes — their habitat

  • why they and their homes are endangered

  • the relationships between these organisms and the humans (like you) who walk the surface above them
    What’s biodiversity?
    According to one definition, it is all the different organisms on Earth (plant, animal, you name it), plus all the differences and relationships that exist among those organisms. As you read through this site, that variability will be explained in greater detail.


  • about the contribution they make to something called “the carbon balance” that makes life on Earth possible

  • about some of the scientists who love to work on the soil and the life it contains, and why

  • about some experiments the scientists perform on the soil and the soil’s creatures
  • where you can learn more about the secret world beneath your feet.

Last edited 07-Jul-2003 . Copyright © 2001-2003 Fred Powledge
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