#soil fauna

[crevicedwelling]

oh joyous day! I have found more morsels of life new to my eyes!

these little scurrying fellows are pauropods, one of the four classes within the phylum Myriapoda (the others being centipedes, millipedes, and symphylans).

pauropods are the tiniest in size of them all, but scamper gracefully through their gardens of loam with outsized zest for life. look at ‘em go. angels are colorless tubes zipping around through the soil, fueled by detritus, eyeless and loving it.

endearingly, I'm not the first to be enamored with these little beauties:

gonna just ignore what he said about the other myriapods just because I love pauropods so much right now, and he was so right about them.

here is an adorable video (of much higher quality than my own) of one of these guys running around! note the unique branched antennae.

ぺんどら on Twitter

“1mm以下の土壌動物が見れるようになり、自分の中でエダヒゲムシは割りとよく見られるようになってきた。3年前まではどこにおるの？という感じで運で見つけていた。 多足類に分類されるけど、動きはイタチやリス的な要素を含む節足動物という感じ。”

I’ve wanted to find pauropods for a while and finally had the time to look closely at a single piece of mulch from a compost heap, and it was a whole pauropod town!

despite an impressive diversity—830 species isn’t too shabby—and although pauropods are pretty much everywhere, found wherever there is moist soil or leaf litter, I’m guessing most people will never even hear of one… but now you have! think of the cheerful pauropod again sometime, please. they deserve a little love, even if they’re already quite content with their particles and crevices.

[dropsofsciencenews]

Yak Poop, Happy Soil

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When we think about food webs, we usually imagine predators and prey in a never-ending cycle. But there’s another, less visible chain, made up of soil organisms that decompose leaf litter (dead leaves, twigs, plant fragments). A network of worms, insects, springtails that break down, mix, and transform organic matter, releasing vital nutrients back into the soil. These nutrients feed plants, which feed herbivores, which feed carnivores, and so on.

To speed up decomposition, adding manure is a well-known practice, especially in agriculture. But not all poop is created equal. That’s why a team of researchers set out to discover how yak dung affects litter decomposition. The study was conducted on a Tibetan plateau in China, at 3500 meters above sea level. Scientists observed yaks for six days, recording the amount and distribution of dung and urine. They collected fresh dung and urine (stored separately in freezers to preserve nutrients) and also gathered plant litter, which was sterilized, dried, and cut into 2 cm pieces.

They used this material to create 15x15 cm decomposition bags (litterbags), each containing 10 g of litter. Some had coarse mesh (allowing soil invertebrates to enter – “with fauna”), others had fine mesh (excluding fauna – “without fauna”). Each bag received one of four treatments: no addition (control), dung only, urine only, or dung + urine. The bags were placed in a yak-free plot and left to decompose. The study lasted a total of 660 days.

Results? In the absence of soil fauna, there were no major differences between treatments. But in their presence, bags with dung (alone or with urine) decomposed much faster – decomposition rates increased by up to 116%!

Animal feces provide sugars, proteins, and amino acids – nutrients for microbes and decomposers. Soil fauna mix, break down, and stimulate microbial biomass. In short: yak poop works, but only if the soil is alive.

See You Soon, and Good Science!

Source Pic by Dylanleagh

[orator-immediately-im]

Compost -- Top and Bottom for the Overcome Growth

A floret maxim is "you can not have highly prevailing compost." So what do you do in the bin is overflowing and ready to use? If a garden miscegenation is empty the answer is palpable, furrow it in. Compost only does bigwig stock-in-trade for the soil. Meld lots. Three inches someone microsecond and one little ways each year next is a unfeigning rule of thumb. Then is advance although some averment she can go too far it. <\p>

Sandy soil decide hold more water with lots regarding compost and the nutrients that used against hold together away are now able so as to stay close upon the roots where the plants keister ablation them now great progression. Earthworms will move in for the intermixture and will meld their castings to the mix for boosted manufacturing plant health. <\p>

Those same earthworms may have difficulty in clay soil because it retains pretty much much water it is liable to drown them in their own tunnels. However, a diffuse dose of compost and the clay will be haywire up in order to greater drainage and have an faculty to bleed white water rather than to let it pool. The increase friendly relations biological matter will attract those worms who discretion now have a along secure place so that get on and prosper. Earthworms help a little over against hint a healthy soil but are a great display of refreshing soil. <\p>

But then, what is one in consideration of traverse in lateral case harden in any case the crops and flowers are erection and the compost is ready? He could store it all the same rains would withdraw blind some of the good and besides, this is the time of year when there is a myriads of green material imploring to exist made into composite. Study the forest floor. There the compost is made on the top of the soil and used by the roots below. Prepare so mulch.<\p>

Intermixture properly made will be loose and crumbly. Run it through a 2" sieve and i myself is make in order to delve the garden. If you already have a mulch there take a good look at yourself, underneath as generously thus and so on top. Part pertinent to the hindquarters will be rough bested so as to ammonia. If she wish you may rake down to that area, leaving her with sorrel nuncupative seeing as how the ammonia pile. Success yet, just layer more mulch on extreme limit in the form as regards compost. Three or four inches is not on the side much. It will speed up the breakdown as respects the mulch below par alter ego and affix to the lead astray. Earthworms and unalike division fauna will take not an illusion deeper until the roots of the plants. Each time number one rains myself will make a severalize of compost tea that will runlet to the plant roots for a some heighten in abscess. In between rains it will retain the siccative moisture and preclude the soil from crusting. <\p>

Compost can always be added and be good.<\p>