Animals in the soil. Soil inhabitants and their adaptability to the environment

Our planet is formed by four majorshells: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. All of them are in close interaction with each other, since representatives of the Earth's biosphere shell - animals, plants, microorganisms - can not exist without such formative substances as water and oxygen.

Just like the lithosphere, the soil cover andOther deeply buried layers can not exist in isolation. Despite the fact that we can not see it with the naked eye, the soil is very densely populated. What kind of living beings does not live in it! Like any living organism, they also need water and air.

What animals live in the soil? How do they influence its formation and how do they adapt to such a habitat? We will try to answer these and other questions in this article.

What are the soils?

The soil is only the uppermost, very shallow layer that makes up the lithosphere. Its depth extends approximately 1-1.5 m. Then a completely different layer begins, in which groundwater flows.

That is, the top fertile soil layer isthere is that place of inhabitation of various in form, size and ways of feeding of living organisms and plants. Soil, as the habitat of animals, is very rich and diverse.

This structural part of the lithosphere is not the same. The formation of the soil layer depends on many factors, mainly on the environmental conditions. Therefore, the types of soils (fertile layer) also differ:

Podzolic and sod-podzolic.
Black Earth.
Soddy.
The Swamp.
Podzolic-marshy.
Solodi.
Floodplain.
Solonchaks.
Gray forest-steppe.
Solontsy.

This classification is only for the areaRussia. On the territory of other countries, continents, parts of the world, there are other types of soils (sandy, argillaceous, arctic-tundra, humus and so on).

Also, all soils are not the same in chemicalcomposition, moisture content and air saturation. These indicators vary and depend on a number of conditions (for example, this is affected by animals in the soil, which will be discussed below).

How are the soils formed and who helps them in this?

The beginning of the soil is from the time of the appearance of life on our planet. It was with the formation of living systems that a slow, continuous and self-renewing formation of soil substrates began.

Proceeding from this it is clear, living organisms playa certain role in soil formation. Which one? Basically, this role is reduced to the processing of organic substances contained in the soil, and its enrichment with mineral elements. It is also loosening and improving the aeration. Very well in 1763 wrote about this MV Lomonosov. It was he who first expressed the statement that the soil is formed due to the withering away of living beings.

In addition to the activities carried out by theanimals in the soil and plants on its surface, rock formation is a very important factor in the formation of the fertile layer. It is from their variety will generally depend on the type of soil.

Also play a role and abiotic factors:

shine;
humidity;
temperature.

As a result, rocks are processed forthe influence of abiotic factors, and microorganisms living in soil decompose animals and plant remains, turning organic substances into mineral substances. As a result, a fertile layer of soil of a certain type is formed. In this case, animals that live under the ground (for example, worms, nematodes, moles) ensure its aeration, that is, saturation with oxygen. This is achieved by loosening and constant processing of soil particles.

Animals and plants together give the soilorganic matter. Microorganisms, protozoa, unicellular fungi and algae, this substance is processed and converted into the desired form of mineral elements. Worms, nematodes and other animals again pass soil particles through themselves, thus forming an organic fertilizer - biohumus.

Hence the conclusion: Soils are formed from rocks as a result of a long historical period of time under the influence of abiotic factors and with the help of animals and plants living in them.

Invisible soil world

A huge role not only in the formation of the soil, but also in the life of all other living beings, is played by tiny creatures that form an entire invisible soil world. Who are they?

First, unicellular algae and fungi. Of the fungi, it is possible to identify the departments of chitridiomycetes, deuteromycetes and some representatives of zygomycetes. Algae should be noted phytoedafon, representing green and blue-green algae. The total mass of these creatures per 1 hectare of soil cover is approximately 3100 kg.

Secondly, there are numerous microorganisms,Bacteria and such animals in the soil, as the protozoa. The total mass of these living systems per 1 ha of soil is approximately 3100 kg. The main role of unicellular organisms is reduced to the processing and decomposition of organic residues of plant and animal origin.

The most common of these organisms are:

rotifers;
mites;
amoeba;
centipedes symphylla;
протуры;
columbols;
twins;
blue-green algae;
green unicellular algae.

What animals live in the soil?

The following invertebrates belong to soil inhabitants:

Small crustaceans (crustaceans) - about 40 kg / ha
Insects and their larvae - 1000 kg / ha
Nematodes and roundworms - 550 kg / ha
Snails and slugs - 40 kg / ha

Such animals that live in the soil are very important. Their significance is determined by the ability to pass through the soil lumps and to saturate them with organic substances, forming biohumus. Also their role is to loosen the soil, improve oxygen saturation and create voids that are filled with air and water, resulting in increased fertility and quality of the upper layer of the earth.

Consider which animals live in the soil. They can be divided into two types:

permanent residents;
temporarily inhabiting.

To permanent vertebral mammals,representing the animal world of the soil, include mole rats, blindfolds, capers and marsupials. Their meaning is reduced to the maintenance of food chains, because they are saturated with soil insects, snails, mollusks, slugs and so on. And the second meaning is the digging of long and twisting passages, allowing the soil to be moistened and enriched with oxygen.

Temporary inhabitants, representing the animal world of the soil, use it only for a short shelter, usually as a place for depositing and storing larvae. Such animals include:

jerboa;
ground squirrels;
badgers;
beetles;
cockroaches;
other species of rodents.

Adaptations of soil inhabitants

In order to live in such a difficult environment assoil, animals must have a number of special adaptations. After all, according to physical characteristics, this medium is dense, rigid and oxygen-poor. In addition, there is absolutely no light in it, although a moderate amount of water is observed. Naturally, such conditions must be able to adapt.

Therefore, animals that live in the soil, with the passage of time (in the course of evolutionary processes) have acquired the following features:

extremely small sizes to fill tiny spaces between soil particles and feel comfortable there (bacteria, protozoa, microorganisms, rotifers, crustaceans);
Flexible body and very strong musculature - advantages for movement in the soil (ringed and round worms);
the ability to absorb oxygen dissolved in water or breathe the entire surface of the body (bacteria, nematodes);
a life cycle consisting of a larval stage, during which no light, no moisture, no food (larvae of insects, various beetles) is required;
The larger animals havea form of powerful digging limbs with strong claws, allowing you to easily break through long and winding passages under the earth (moles, shrews, badgers and so on);
in mammals, the sense of smell is well developed, but there is practically no vision (moles, caplets, mole rats, hawks);
the body is streamlined, dense, compressed, with a short tight tight fur.

All these adaptations create such comfortable conditions that animals in the soil feel themselves no worse than those that live in the ground-air environment, and, perhaps, even better.

The role of ecological groups of soil inhabitants in nature

The main ecological groups of soil inhabitants are considered to be:

Geobionts. Representatives of this group are animals for whom the soil is a permanent habitat. It goes through their entire life cycle in conjunction with the basic processes of life. Examples: earthworms, mnogotvotki, tailless, two-tailed, waggonless.
Geofiles. This group includes animals for which the soil is an obligatory substrate during one of the phases of its life cycle. For example: pupae of insects, locusts, many beetles, mosquitoes-weevils.
Geoxenes. An ecological group of animals for which the soil is a temporary shelter, shelter, a place of shelving and breeding offspring. Examples: many beetles, insects, all normal animals.

The totality of all animals of each group isan important link in the general food chain. In addition, their livelihoods determine the quality of soils, their self-renewal and fertility. Therefore, their role is extremely important, especially in the modern world in which agriculture forces the soil to become poor, leached and salted out due to chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Animal soils contribute to more rapid and natural restoration of the fertile layer after heavy mechanical and chemical attacks from the human side.

Relationship of plants, animals and soils

Not only animal soils are interrelatedthemselves, forming a common biocenosis with its own food chains and ecological niches. In fact, all existing plants, animals and microorganisms are involved in a single circle of life. Equally, like all of them are associated with all habitats. Here is a simple example illustrating this relationship.

Grass meadows and fields are food forterrestrial animals. Those, in turn, serve as a food source for predators. The remains of grass and organic matter, which are derived from the products of vital activity of all animals, fall into the soil. Here, microorganisms and insects, which are detritophages, are taken for a cause. They decompose all the residues and transfer them into mineral substances suitable for absorption by plants. Thus, plants receive the components they need for growth and development.

In the soil itself, microorganisms and insects, rotifers, beetles, larvae, worms, and so on become food for each other, and therefore, a common part of the entire supply network.

Thus, it turns out that animals,living in the soil, and plants living on its surface, have common points of intersection and interact with each other, forming a single common harmony and force of nature.

Poor soils and their inhabitants

The poor are called soils, which repeatedlyexposed to human exposure. Construction, cultivation of agricultural plants, drainage, melioration - all this eventually leads to impoverishment of soils. What inhabitants are able to survive in such conditions? Unfortunately, not many. The most hardy underground inhabitants are bacteria, some protozoa, insects, and also their larvae. Mammals, worms, nematodes, locusts, spiders, crustaceans in such soils can not survive, so they perish or leave them.

Also to the poor are soils in which the lowthe content of organic and mineral substances. For example, loose sands. This is a special environment in which certain organisms live with their adaptations. Or, for example, saline and strongly acid soils also contain only specific inhabitants.

Studying of animal soils in school

The school course of zoology does not provide for the study of animal soils in a separate lesson. Most often, this is just a brief overview in the context of a topic.

However, in elementary school there is such an object as"The world". Animals in soil are studied in the framework of the program of this subject in great detail. Information is presented according to the age of the children. Kids are told about the diversity, the role in nature and economic activity of a man played by animals in the soil. 3rd grade is the most suitable age for this. Children are already sufficiently educated to learn some terminology, and at the same time have a great desire for knowledge, for knowing everything around them, for studying nature and its inhabitants.

The main thing is to make the lessons interesting, non-standard, and also informative, and then the children will absorb knowledge, like sponges, including about the inhabitants of the soil environment.

Examples of animals living in the soil environment

It is possible to give a short list reflecting the main soil inhabitants. Naturally, make it complete will not work, because there are so many of them! However, the main representatives will try to name.

Animals of soil - list:

rotifers, mites, bacteria, protozoa, crustaceans;
spiders, locusts, insects, beetles, centipedes, lice, slugs, snails;
earthworms, nematodes and other roundworms;
moles, mole rats, blindfolds, scorpions;
jerboa, ground squirrels, badgers, mice, chipmunks.

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