Microbes in Soil
This article really gives you an idea how the food chain starts and how small the things are and how even though they are so small that they set off a very long reaction. The first sentence in the article really caught my attention because I didn't think it could be true and made me want to read on. It read "without soil microbes, we would all die." After, I thought about it some more it made more since because if they can help and/or destroy something as complex as our body why can't it do the same for our soil and the food chain. Darius lays it out and tells us that of they are no microbes in the soil plants with not be able to grow because they are not getting the nutrients they need from the soil. It really amazes me that something can be thrown off so much due to something so little. Darius also tells us that microbes are like any living creature and need "food" to stay alive. Microbes feed off of organic matter that they find underground and the soil. With out microbes in the soil planted would be able to produce things such as oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. This information seems like it would be very beneficial to have more information because if it affects us this much people need to know what to be putting in the soil so that the chain is not broken and we are still getting what we need. In the article is says that the microbes "fix" the nitrogen in the air to make it usable for plants. So, my question is does it take out the bad stuff and reuse? Does it release it into the air? My other question is about gardening and if just using the store bought stuff is enough for the microbes to eat or do they need more? Or something different?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1936/#b
When the microbes "fix" atmospheric nitrogen, they convert it to ammonia, usually by using organic carbon as the energy sources. Often, in an ecosystem like this, one microbe's waste is another's dinner.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of gardening, you might look into biological fertilizers versus more manufactured chemical fertilizers. I seem to remember that things like Miracle Grow have a down side to them for the plants, but look into it.
Hmm interesting, I think the biggest take home thought for this article is exactly what Diana said, one microbe's waste is another's food, The waste of an organisms could actually be the exact food source a microbe needs to survive. This ideal is extremely interesting, even when we look at it for us, we use another animals waste to fertilize and help our plants grow.
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