2023-10-06 23:00:00
A joint research team including the Swiss Federal Research Institute published research results showing that more than half of life on Earth lives in the soil. It is estimated that regarding 63% of animals in the class Earthworms live in the soil. Provided by Getty Image Bank
In Greek mythology, Gaia, the goddess of the earth, is also the goddess of creation and creation. This is because she believed that the earth is the foundation on which countless living things are born and live.
Recently, a research team led by Marc Anthony, a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute, announced the results of a survey showing that more than half of life on Earth lives in soil and that soil is the most diverse habitat on Earth. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.2304663120)
The research team analyzed existing papers that estimated the number of biological species and examined how many species would live in various ecosystems, including soil, freshwater, ocean, seafloor, air, and host organisms.
First, the total number of living things on Earth was estimated at regarding 100 billion species, then the lower, middle, and upper limits of species living in each space were calculated, and the average of the three values was calculated. In the case of soil ecosystems, an organism is defined as a soil-dwelling species if it lives in or on the soil or completes part of its life cycle in the soil.
As a result of the analysis, it was estimated that regarding 59% of life on Earth lives in the soil ecosystem. This figure is more than double the 25% figure estimated in a 2006 study measuring soil ecosystem diversity conducted by Professor Descan Thibaut of the University of Montpellier in France. 90% of fungi, 85% of plants, and more than 50% of bacteria lived in soil. Mammals, such as humans, were the group of organisms least associated with soil ecosystems, accounting for 3%.
However, the estimate in this study had a large error range of 15%, and the average prediction rate was only 44% to 74%. Researcher Anthony, who led the study, said, “It is unfortunate that there is a large margin of error in the estimates, but this is the first attempt to realistically estimate the biodiversity of soils around the world.” He added, “The evidence that can advocate for the conservation and restoration of soil life more accurately and quantitatively is “It will happen,” he said.
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Science Donga October, [과학뉴스] More than half of Earth’s living things live in the soil
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