Long arthropods that move on many legs are often found in the ground. In most cases they are not harmful to plants.

Centipedes scare everyone with their menacing appearance. However, they eat plants extremely rarely, and even then mainly in closed ground. Basically, they hunt their relatives - insects.

Thin are evil

If, while digging the beds, you see a long larva swarming in the soil, similar to a worm, but with a hard body, know: this is one of the dangerous pests.

Wireworm (larva of click beetle). Yellow (brown or dark brown) creatures up to 15-17 mm long, living in the soil to a depth of 10-12 cm. Wireworms got their name due to the fact that their bodies are extremely hard and tough.

Wireworm. Photo: Nina Belyavskaya

The larvae feed on plant roots, seeds, seedlings, and seedlings and can cause great damage.

Prevention. In small areas - watering with a solution of potassium permanganate (2-5 g per 10 liters of water). Sowing seeds not lower than the recommended depth with the simultaneous application of mineral fertilizers. Keeping the soil free of weeds. Loosening to a depth of 10-12 cm. Timely collection of mown grass. Early autumn digging of the soil (until mid-September).

Biological protection. Laying in the spring before sowing pieces of raw potatoes, carrots or beets into the soil to a depth of 5-15 cm (with a mark of their location). After 3-4 days, destroy the baits with larvae.

Chemical protection: see table. Shading traps made from freshly weeded weeds treated with any of the approved contact insecticides help against adult click beetles.

Pseudowire (darkling beetle larva). In appearance, it is a brother of the wireworm: only its first pair of legs is noticeably larger than the next ones, and its head is convex on top.

False wireworm. Photo: Nina Belyavskaya

Prevention and protection measures. Adding Vallar and Terradox, Contador maxi to the soil before planting. Use of shading poisoned baits.

Fat - different

In the soil you can find fleshy, light-colored insect larvae rolled into half rings. They can be either harmful or relatively harmless, and the pest can be identified... by its legs!

Dangerous

Adult beetleworm larvae are quite large (depending on the species, from 1.5 to 7.5 cm in length), fat, curved like the letter “C,” yellowish-white with translucent intestines. Try to remember a good identifying feature of beetle larvae: the back pair of their legs is the longest.

Khrushchev larva. Photo: Nina Belyavskaya

Prevention. Weed control. Some of the beetle larvae die when the soil is compacted in the spring.

Fight without harm. Collection and destruction of larvae during soil cultivation. Daily shaking off cockchafers onto shields or gauze cloths and their subsequent destruction.

They do harm, but rarely

Bronze larvae are often mistaken for Khrushchev larvae, which is not surprising, since they are close relatives. True, the larvae of bronzes have all pairs of legs of the same length. Bronze beetles can cause harm in rare cases - sometimes these beautiful bronze beetles eat plant flowers, and their larvae cause bald spots on the lawn.

Harmless

Larvae of pill beetles and dung beetles. Photo: Nina Belyavskaya

When digging up an area, you can find greenish-brown or dirty white larvae with a clearly visible head and a body curved in the shape of the letter “C”, very similar to Khrushchev larvae, but with long front legs (in Khrushchev, on the contrary, the longest are the hind legs ). These are the larvae of pill beetles and dung beetles. They do not harm plants!

Chemicals against pests

Pest	List of drugs	Mode of application
Wireworm	Pochin, Zemlin, Vallar, Terradox, Provotox, Biotlin, Bison, Imidor, Iskra, Kalash, Klubneshield, Commander, Corado, Prestige, Prestigator, Respect, Tanrek	Application to the soil before planting
Khrushchev	Vallar, Terradox	Dipping the roots of seedlings (saplings) into insecticidal soil mash before planting and re-applying the drug after 25-30 days to the surface of the earth with embedding to a depth of 5-10 cm.

Select from the list

All around us: on the ground, in the grass, in the trees, in the air - life is in full swing everywhere. Even a resident who has never gone deep into the forest big city often sees birds, dragonflies, butterflies, flies, spiders and many other animals around him. The inhabitants of reservoirs are also well known to everyone. Everyone, at least occasionally, has seen schools of fish near the shore, water beetles or snails.
But there is a world hidden from us, inaccessible to direct observation - a peculiar world of soil animals.
There is eternal darkness there; you cannot penetrate there without destroying the natural structure of the soil. And only isolated, accidentally noticed signs show that beneath the surface of the soil among the roots of plants there is a rich and diverse world of animals. This is sometimes evidenced by mounds above mole holes, holes in gopher holes in the steppe or sand swallow holes in a cliff above the river, piles of earth on the path thrown out by earthworms, and the earthworms themselves crawling out after the rain, as well as masses unexpectedly appearing literally from underground winged ants or fat larvae of cockchafers that are caught when digging up the ground.
Soil is usually called the surface layer of the earth's crust on land, formed during the weathering of bedrock under the influence of water, wind, temperature fluctuations and the activity of plants, animals and humans. The most important property of soil, which distinguishes it from infertile parent rock, is fertility, i.e., the ability to produce a crop of plants.

As a habitat for animals, soil is very different from water and air. Try waving your hand in the air - you will notice almost no resistance. Do the same in water - you will feel significant resistance from the environment. And if you put your hand in a hole and cover it with earth, it will be difficult to pull it back out. It is clear that animals can move relatively quickly in the soil only in natural voids, cracks or previously dug passages. If there is nothing of this in the way, then the animal can advance only by breaking through a passage and raking the earth back or swallowing the earth and passing it through the intestines. The speed of movement in this case, of course, will be insignificant.
Every animal needs to breathe to live. The conditions for breathing in soil are different than in water or air. Soil consists of solid particles, water and air. Solid particles in the form of small lumps occupy slightly more than half of its volume; the rest falls on the gaps - pores, which can be filled with air (in dry soil) or water (in soil saturated with moisture). As a rule, water covers all soil particles with a thin film; the rest of the space between them is occupied by air saturated with water vapor.
Thanks to this structure of the soil, numerous animals live in it and breathe through their skin. If you take them out of the ground, they quickly die from drying out. Moreover, hundreds of species of real freshwater animals live in the soil, inhabiting rivers, ponds and swamps. True, these are all microscopic creatures - lower worms and single-celled protozoa. They move and float in a film of water covering soil particles. If the soil dries out, these animals secrete a protective shell and seem to fall asleep.

Soil air receives oxygen from the atmosphere: its amount in the soil is 1-2% less than in atmospheric air. Oxygen is consumed in the soil by animals, microorganisms, and plant roots. They all emit carbon dioxide. There is 10-15 times more of it in soil air than in the atmosphere. Free gas exchange between soil and atmospheric air occurs only if the pores between solid particles are not completely filled with water. After heavy rains or in the spring, after the snow melts, the soil is saturated with water. There is not enough air in the soil, and under the threat of death, many animals leave it. This explains the appearance of earthworms on the surface after heavy rains.
Among soil animals there are also predators and those that feed on parts of living plants, mainly roots. There are also consumers of decomposing plant and animal residues in the soil - perhaps bacteria also play a significant role in their nutrition.
Soil animals find their food either in the soil itself or on its surface.
The life activity of many of them is very useful. The activity of earthworms is especially useful. They drag a huge amount of plant debris into their burrows, which contributes to the formation of humus and returns substances extracted from it by plant roots to the soil.
In forest soils, invertebrates, especially earthworms, process more than half of all leaf litter. Over the course of a year, on each hectare, they throw out to the surface up to 25-30 tons of land they have processed, turned into good, structural soil. If you distribute this soil evenly over the entire surface of a hectare, you will get a layer of 0.5-0.8 cm. Therefore, it is not for nothing that earthworms are considered the most important soil builders. Not only earthworms “work” in the soil, but also their closest relatives - smaller whitish annelids (enchytraeids, or pot worms), as well as some types of microscopic roundworms (nematodes), small mites, various insects, especially their larvae, and finally woodlice, millipedes and even snails.

Medvedka

The purely mechanical work of many animals living in it also affects the soil. They make passages, mix and loosen the soil, and dig holes. All this increases the number of voids in the soil and facilitates the penetration of air and water into its depth.
This “work” involves not only relatively small invertebrate animals, but also many mammals - moles, shrews, marmots, gophers, jerboas, field and forest mice, hamsters, voles, and mole rats. The relatively large passages of some of these animals go deep from 1 to 4 m.
The passages of large earthworms go even deeper: in most of them they reach 1.5-2 m, and in one southern worm even 8 m. These passages, especially in denser soils, are constantly used by plant roots penetrating into the depths. In some places, for example in the steppe zone, a large number of passages and holes are dug in the soil by dung beetles, mole crickets, crickets, tarantula spiders, ants, and in the tropics - termites.
Many soil animals feed on roots, tubers, and plant bulbs. Those that attack cultivated plants or forest plantations are considered pests, for example the cockchafer. Its larva lives in the soil for about four years and pupates there. In the first year of life, it feeds mainly on the roots of herbaceous plants. But, as it grows, the larva begins to feed on the roots of trees, especially young pines, and causes great harm to the forest or forest plantations.

Mole paws are well adapted for life in the soil.

The larvae of click beetles, darkling beetles, weevils, pollen eaters, caterpillars of some butterflies, such as cutworms, the larvae of many flies, cicadas and, finally, root aphids, such as phylloxera, also feed on the roots of various plants, greatly harming them.
A large number of insects that damage the above-ground parts of plants - stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, lay eggs in the soil; Here, the larvae that emerge from the eggs hide during drought, overwinter, and pupate. Soil pests include some species of mites and centipedes, naked slugs and extremely numerous microscopic roundworms - nematodes. Nematodes penetrate from the soil into the roots of plants and disrupt their normal functioning. There are many predators living in the soil. “Peaceful” moles and shrews eat huge amounts of earthworms, snails and insect larvae; they even attack frogs, lizards and mice. These animals eat almost continuously. For example, a shrew eats an amount of living creatures per day equal to its own weight!
There are predators among almost all groups of invertebrates living in the soil. Large ciliates feed not only on bacteria, but also on protozoa, such as flagellates. The ciliates themselves serve as prey for some roundworms. Predatory mites attack other mites and small insects. Thin, long, pale-colored geophilic centipedes that live in soil cracks, as well as larger dark-colored drupes and centipedes that stay under stones and in stumps, are also predators. They feed on insects and their larvae, worms and other small animals. Predators include spiders and related haymakers (“mow-mow-leg”). Many of them live on the soil surface, in the litter, or under objects lying on the ground.

Antlion larva.

Environmental groups soil organisms. The number of organisms in the soil is enormous (Fig. 5.41).

Rice. 5.41. Soil organisms (no E. A. Kriksunov et al., 1995)

Plants, animals and microorganisms living in the soil are in constant interaction with each other and with their environment. These relationships are complex and diverse. Animals and bacteria consume plant carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Thanks to these relationships and as a result of fundamental changes in the physical, chemical and biochemical properties of rock, soil-forming processes constantly occur in nature. On average, the soil contains 2 - 3 kg/m2 of living plants and animals, or 20 - 30 t/ha. Moreover, in a temperate climate zone, plant roots account for 15 tons (per 1 ha), insects - 1 t, earthworms - 500 kg, nematodes - 50 kg, crustaceans - 40 kg, snails, slugs - 20 kg, snakes, rodents - 20 kg, bacteria - 3t, mushrooms - 3t, actinomycetes - 1.5 t, protozoa - 100 kg, algae - 100 kg.

Despite the heterogeneity of environmental conditions in the soil, it acts as a fairly stable environment, especially for mobile organisms. A large gradient of temperature and humidity in the soil profile allows soil animals to provide themselves with a suitable ecological environment through minor movements.

The heterogeneity of the soil leads to the fact that for organisms of different sizes it acts as different environment. For microorganisms, the huge total surface of soil particles is of particular importance, because the overwhelming majority of microorganisms are adsorbed on them. The complexity of the soil environment creates great diversity for a wide variety of functional groups: aerobes, anaerobes, consumers of organic and mineral compounds. The distribution of microorganisms in the soil is characterized by fine focality, since different ecological zones can change over the course of several millimeters.

Based on the degree of connection with the soil as a habitat, animals are divided into three ecological groups: geobionts, geophiles and geoxenes.

Geobionts - animals that constantly live in the soil. The entire cycle of their development takes place in the soil environment. These are such as earthworms (Lymbricidae), many primary wingless insects (Apterydota).

Geophiles - animals, part of the development cycle of which (usually one of the phases) necessarily takes place in the soil. Most insects belong to this group: locusts (Acridoidea), a number of beetles (Staphylinidae, Carabidae, Elateridae), long-legged mosquitoes (Tipulidae). Their larvae develop in the soil. As adults, these are typical terrestrial inhabitants. Geophiles also include insects that are in the pupal phase in the soil.

Geoxenes - animals that sometimes visit soil for temporary shelter or shelter. Insect geoxenes include cockroaches (Blattodea), many hemiptera (Hemiptera), and some beetles that develop outside the soil. This also includes rodents and other mammals that live in burrows.

At the same time, the above classification does not reflect the role of animals in soil-forming processes, since in each group there are organisms that actively move and feed in the soil and passive ones that remain in the soil during certain phases of development (insect larvae, pupae or eggs). Soil inhabitants, depending on their size and degree of mobility, can be divided into several groups.

Microbiotype, microbiota - These are soil microorganisms that make up the main link in the detrital food chain and represent, as it were, an intermediate link between plant residues and soil animals. These include primarily green (Chlorophyta) and blue-green (Cyanophyta) algae, bacteria (Bacteria), fungi (Fungi) and protozoa (Protozoa). Essentially we can say that this is aquatic organisms, and the soil for them is a system of micro-reservoirs. They live in soil pores filled with gravitational or capillary water, like microorganisms; part of their life can be in an adsorbed state on the surface of particles in thin layers of film moisture. Many of them also live in ordinary bodies of water. At the same time, soil forms are usually smaller than freshwater ones and are distinguished by their ability to remain in an encysted state for a significant time, waiting out unfavorable periods. Thus, freshwater amoebas have sizes of 50-100 microns, soil ones - 10-15 microns. Flagellates do not exceed 2-5 microns. Soil ciliates are also small in size and can significantly change their body shape.

For this group of animals, the soil appears as a system of small caves. They dont have special devices to digging. They crawl along the walls of soil cavities using their limbs or wriggling like a worm. Soil air saturated with water vapor allows them to breathe through the integument of the body. Often species of animals in this group do not have a tracheal system and are very sensitive to desiccation. Their means of escape from fluctuations in air humidity is to move deeper. Larger animals have some adaptations that allow them to tolerate a decrease in soil air humidity for some time: protective scales on the body, partial impermeability of the integument, etc.

Animals usually experience periods of soil flooding with water in air bubbles. Air is retained around their body due to the non-wetting of the integument, which in most of them is equipped with hairs, scales, etc. The air bubble plays a unique role for the animal as a “physical gill.” Breathing is carried out due to oxygen diffusing into the air layer from environment. Animals of meso- and microbiotypes are able to tolerate winter freezing of the soil, which is especially important, since most of them cannot move down from layers exposed to negative temperatures.

Macrobiotype, macrobiota - These are large soil animals: with body sizes from 2 to 20 mm. This group includes insect larvae, centipedes, enchytraeids, earthworms, etc. The soil for them is a dense medium that provides significant mechanical resistance when moving. They move in the soil, expanding natural wells by moving apart soil particles, digging new passages. Both methods of movement leave an imprint on the external structure of animals. Many species have developed adaptations to an ecologically more advantageous type of movement in the soil - digging and blocking the passage behind them. Gas exchange of most species of this group is carried out with the help of specialized respiratory organs, but at the same time it is supplemented by gas exchange through the integument. In earthworms and enchytraeids, exclusively cutaneous respiration is noted. Burrowing animals can move away from layers where an unfavorable environment occurs. By winter and during drought, they concentrate in deeper layers, mostly a few tens of centimeters from the surface.

Megabiotype, megabiota - these are large shrews, mainly mammals (Fig. 5.42).

Rice. 5.42. Burrowing activity of burrowing animals in the steppe

Many of them spend their entire lives in the soil (golden moles in Africa, moles in Eurasia, marsupial moles in Australia, mole rats, mole moles, moles, etc.). They create entire systems of passages and burrows in the soil. Adaptation to a burrowing underground lifestyle is reflected in the appearance and anatomical features of these animals: underdeveloped eyes, a compact ridged body with a short neck, short thick fur, strong compact limbs with strong claws.

In addition to the permanent inhabitants of the soil, among the group of animals they are often classified as a separate ecological group burrow inhabitants This group of animals includes badgers, marmots, gophers, jerboas, etc. They feed on the surface, but reproduce, hibernate, rest, and escape from danger in the soil. A number of other animals use their burrows, finding in them a favorable microclimate and shelter from enemies. The inhabitants of burrows, or burrowers, have structural features characteristic of terrestrial animals, but at the same time they have a number of adaptations that indicate a burrowing lifestyle. Thus, badgers are characterized by long claws and strong muscles on the forelimbs, a narrow head, and small ears.

To a special group psammophiles include animals that inhabit loose shifting sands. In vertebrate psammophiles, the limbs are often arranged in the form of a kind of “sand skis”, facilitating movement on loose soil. For example, the thin-toed ground squirrel and the comb-toed jerboa have fingers covered with long hair and horny outgrowths. Birds and mammals sandy deserts are able to travel long distances in search of water (runners, hazel grouses) or long time do without it (camels). A number of animals receive water with food or store it during the rainy season, accumulating it in the bladder, subcutaneous tissues, and abdominal cavity. Other animals hide in holes during drought, bury themselves in the sand, or hibernate during the summer. Many arthropods also live in shifting sands. Typical psammophiles include marbled beetles from the genus Polyphylla, larvae of antlions (Myrmeleonida) and racing horses (Cicindelinae), and a large number of hymenoptera (Hymenoptera). Soil animals that live in shifting sands have specific adaptations that enable them to move in loose soil. As a rule, these are “mining” animals that move sand particles apart. Quick sands are inhabited only by typical psammophiles.

As noted above, 25% of all soils on our planet Earth are saline. Animals that have adapted to life on saline soils are called halophiles. Usually, in saline soils, the fauna is greatly depleted in quantitative and qualitative terms. For example, the larvae of click beetles (Elateridae) and beetles (Melolonthinae) disappear, and at the same time specific halophiles appear that are not found in soils of normal salinity. Among them are the larvae of some desert darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae).

The relationship of plants to soil. We noted earlier that the most important property of the soil is its fertility, which is determined primarily by the content of humus, macro- and microelements, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, copper, boron, zinc, molybdenum etc. Each of these elements plays its own role in the structure and metabolism of the plant and cannot be completely replaced by another. Plants are distinguished: distributed mainly on fertile soils - eutrophic or eutrophic; content with a small amount nutrients - oligotrophic. Between them there is an intermediate group mesotrophic species.

Different types plants have different attitudes towards the content of available nitrogen in the soil. Plants that are especially demanding of high nitrogen content in the soil are called nitrophils(Fig. 5.43).

Rice. 5.43. Plants that live in nitrogen-rich soils

They usually settle where there are additional sources of organic waste, and therefore nitrogen nutrition. These are clearing plants (raspberry - Rubusidaeus, climbing hop - Humuluslupulus), garbage, or species that are companions of human habitation (nettle - Urticadioica, amaranthus - Amaranthus retroflexus, etc.). Nitrophils include many umbelliferae that settle on the edges of forests. Nitrophils settle en masse where the soil is constantly enriched with nitrogen and through animal excrement. For example, on pastures, in places where manure accumulates, nitrophilic grasses (nettle, acorn grass, etc.) grow in patches.

Calcium - essential element, is not only one of the mineral nutrients necessary for plants, but is also an important component of the soil. Plants in carbonate soils containing more than 3% carbonates and effervescent from the surface are called calcium-sulfides(lady's slipper - Cypripedium calceolus). Among the trees are Siberian larch - Larixsibiria, beech, ash. Plants that avoid soils rich in lime are called calciumphobes. These are sphagnum mosses and bog heathers. Tree species include warty birch and chestnut.

Plants react differently to soil acidity. Yes, when different reactions environment in soil horizons can cause uneven development of the root system in clover (Fig. 5.44).

Rice. 5.44. Development of clover roots in soil horizons at

different environmental reactions

Plants that prefer acidic soils, with a low pH value, i.e. 3.5-4.5, called acidophiles(heather, white grass, small sorrel, etc.), plants of alkaline soils with a pH of 7.0-7.5 (coltsfoot, field mustard, etc.) are classified as Basiphylam(basophils), and plants in soils with a neutral reaction - neutrophils(meadow foxtail, meadow fescue, etc.).

Excess salts in the soil solution have a negative effect on plants. Numerous experiments have established a particularly strong effect on plants from chloride salinization of the soil, while sulfate salinization is less harmful. The lower toxicity of sulfate soil salinization is, in particular, due to the fact that, unlike the Cl ion, the SO - 4 ion in small quantities is necessary for normal mineral nutrition of plants, and only its excess is harmful. Plants that have adapted to growing in soils with high salt content are called halophytes. Unlike halophytes, plants that do not grow on saline soils are called glycophytes. Halophytes have high osmotic pressure, which allows them to use soil solutions, since the sucking force of the roots exceeds the sucking force of the soil solution. Some halophytes secrete excess salts through their leaves or accumulate them in their bodies. Therefore, they are sometimes used to produce soda and potash. Typical halophytes are European saltwort (Salicomiaherbaceae), sarsazan (Halocnemumstrobilaceum), etc.

A special group is represented by plants adapted to loose moving sands - psammophytes. Plants of shifting sands in all climatic zones have general features morphology and biology, they have historically developed unique adaptations. Thus, tree and shrub psammophytes, when covered with sand, form adventitious roots. Adventitious buds and shoots develop on the roots if the plants are exposed when sand is blown out (white saxaul, kandym, sand acacia and other typical desert plants). Some psammophytes are saved from sand drift by rapid growth of shoots, reduction of leaves, and often increased volatility and springiness of fruits. The fruits move along with the moving sand and are not covered by it. Psammophytes easily tolerate drought thanks to various adaptations: sheaths on the roots, suberization of roots, strong development of lateral roots. Most psammophytes are leafless or have distinct xeromorphic foliage. This significantly reduces the transpiration surface.

Flowing sands are also found in humid climates, for example, sand dunes along the shores of the northern seas, sands of a drying river bed along the banks large rivers etc. Typical psammophytes grow here, such as sandy hair, sandy fescue, and willow-shelyuga.

Plants such as coltsfoot, horsetail, and field mint live on moist, predominantly clay soils.

The ecological conditions for plants growing on peat (peat bogs) are extremely unique - a special type of soil substrate formed as a result of incomplete decomposition of plant residues under conditions of high humidity and difficult air access. Plants growing on peat bogs, called oxylophytes. This term refers to the ability of plants to tolerate high acidity with strong moisture and anaerobiosis. Oxylophytes include wild rosemary (Ledumpalustre), sundew (Droserarotundifolia), etc.

Plants that live on stones, cliffs, scree, in whose life they play a predominant role physical properties substrate, refer to lithophytes. This group includes, first of all, the first settlers after microorganisms on rocky surfaces and collapsing rocks: autotrophic algae (Nostos, Chlorella, etc.), then crustose lichens, tightly growing to the substrate and painting rocks in different colors (black, yellow, red and etc.), and finally, leaf lichens. They, by releasing metabolic products, contribute to the destruction of rocks and thereby play a significant role in the long process of soil formation. Over time, organic residues accumulate in the form of a layer on the surface and especially in the cracks of stones, on which mosses settle. Under the moss cover, a primitive layer of soil is formed, on which lithophytes from higher plants settle. They are called crevice plants, or Chasmophytes. Among them are species of the genus Saxifraga, shrubs and tree species (juniper, pine, etc.), fig. 5.45.

Rice. 5.45. Rock shape of pine tree growth on granite rocks

on the coast of Lake Ladoga (according to A. A. Nitsenko, 1951)

They have a peculiar growth form (curved, creeping, dwarf, etc.), associated both with harsh water and thermal regimes and with a lack of nutrient substrate on the rocks.

The role of edaphic factors in the distribution of plants and animals. Specific plant associations, as already noted, are formed in connection with the diversity of habitat conditions, including soil conditions, and also in connection with the selectivity of plants in relation to them in a certain landscape-geographical zone. It should be taken into account that even in one zone, depending on its topography, groundwater level, slope exposure and a number of other factors, unequal soil conditions are created, which are reflected in the type of vegetation. Thus, in the feather grass-fescue steppe you can always find areas where feather grass or fescue dominates. The conclusion is that soil types are a powerful factor in plant distribution. Edaphic factors have less influence on terrestrial animals. At the same time, animals are closely related to vegetation, and it plays a decisive role in their distribution. However, even among large vertebrates it is easy to detect forms that are adapted to specific soils. This is especially true for the fauna of clayey soils with a hard surface, loose sand, marshy soils and peat bogs. Burrowing forms of animals are closely related to soil conditions. Some of them are adapted to denser soils, while others can only tear up light sandy soils. Typical soil animals are also adapted to different types of soil. For example, in central Europe, up to 20 genera of beetles are recorded, which are common only on saline or solonetzic soils. And at the same time, soil animals often have very wide ranges and are found in different soils. The earthworm (Eisenianordenskioldi) reaches high numbers in tundra and taiga soils, in soils mixed forests and meadows and even in the mountains. This is due to the fact that in the distribution of soil inhabitants, in addition to soil properties great importance have their evolutionary level, their body sizes. The tendency towards cosmopolitanism is clearly expressed in small forms. These are bacteria, fungi, protozoa, microarthropods (mites, springtails), soil nematodes.

In general, in terms of a number of ecological features, soil is an intermediate medium between terrestrial and aquatic. WITH air environment The soil is brought together by the presence of soil air, the threat of drying out in the upper horizons, and relatively sharp changes in the temperature regime of the surface layers. WITH aquatic environment The soil is brought together by its temperature regime, the low oxygen content in the soil air, its saturation with water vapor and the presence of water in other forms, the presence of salts and organic substances in soil solutions, and the ability to move in three dimensions. As in water, chemical interdependencies and mutual influence of organisms are highly developed in soil.

The intermediate ecological properties of soil as a habitat for animals make it possible to conclude that soil played a special role in the evolution of the animal world. For example, many groups of arthropods in the process of historical development went through difficult path from typically aquatic organisms through soil inhabitants to typically terrestrial forms.

4.3.2. Soil inhabitants

The heterogeneity of the soil leads to the fact that for organisms of different sizes it acts as a different environment. For microorganisms, the huge total surface of soil particles is of particular importance, since the overwhelming majority of the microbial population is adsorbed on them. The complexity of the soil environment creates a wide variety of conditions for a wide variety of functional groups: aerobes and anaerobes, consumers of organic and mineral compounds. The distribution of microorganisms in the soil is characterized by fine focality, since even within a few millimeters different ecological zones can change.

For small soil animals (Fig. 52, 53), which are combined under the name microfauna (protozoa, rotifers, tardigrades, nematodes, etc.), soil is a system of micro-reservoirs. Essentially, these are aquatic organisms. They live in soil pores filled with gravitational or capillary water, and part of life can, like microorganisms, be in an adsorbed state on the surface of particles in thin layers of film moisture. Many of these species also live in ordinary bodies of water. However, soil forms are much smaller than freshwater ones and, in addition, are distinguished by their ability to remain in an encysted state for a long time, waiting out unfavorable periods. While freshwater amoebas are 50-100 microns in size, soil amoebas are only 10-15. Representatives of flagellates are especially small, often only 2–5 microns. Soil ciliates also have dwarf sizes and, moreover, can greatly change their body shape.

Rice. 52. Testate amoebas feeding on bacteria on decaying leaves of the forest floor

Rice. 53. Soil microfauna (according to W. Dunger, 1974):

1–4 – flagella; 5–8 – naked amoebas; 9-10 – testate amoebas; 11–13 – ciliates; 14–16 – roundworms; 17–18 – rotifers; 19–20 – tardigrades

To slightly larger air-breathing animals, the soil appears as a system of small caves. Such animals are grouped under the name mesofauna (Fig. 54). The sizes of soil mesofauna representatives range from tenths to 2–3 mm. This group includes mainly arthropods: numerous groups mites, primary wingless insects (collembolas, protura, two-tailed insects), small species of winged insects, symphila millipedes, etc. They do not have special adaptations for digging. They crawl along the walls of soil cavities using their limbs or wriggling like a worm. Soil air saturated with water vapor allows breathing through the covers. Many species do not have a tracheal system. Such animals are very sensitive to drying out. The main means of escape from fluctuations in air humidity is to move deeper. But the possibility of deep migration through soil cavities is limited by a rapid decrease in pore diameter, so movement through soil holes is accessible only to the smallest species. More major representatives mesofauna have some adaptations that allow them to tolerate a temporary decrease in soil air humidity: protective scales on the body, partial impermeability of the integument, a solid thick-walled shell with an epicuticle in combination with a primitive tracheal system that ensures respiration.

Rice. 54. Soil mesofauna (no W. Danger, 1974):

1 – false scorion; 2 – gama new bell-bottom; 3–4 oribatid mites; 5 – centipede pauroioda; 6 – chironomid mosquito larva; 7 - beetle from this family. Ptiliidae; 8–9 springtails

Representatives of the mesofauna survive periods of soil flooding in air bubbles. Air is retained around the body of animals due to their non-wettable integument, which is also equipped with hairs, scales, etc. The air bubble serves as a kind of “physical gill” for a small animal. Respiration is carried out due to oxygen diffusing into the air layer from the surrounding water.

Representatives of micro- and mesofauna are able to tolerate winter freezing of the soil, since most species cannot move down from layers exposed to negative temperatures.

Larger soil animals, with body sizes from 2 to 20 mm, are called representatives macrofauna (Fig. 55). These are insect larvae, centipedes, enchytraeids, earthworms, etc. For them, the soil is a dense medium that provides significant mechanical resistance when moving. These relatively large forms move in the soil either by expanding natural wells by pushing apart soil particles, or by digging new tunnels. Both methods of movement leave an imprint on the external structure of animals.

Rice. 55. Soil macrofauna (no W. Danger, 1974):

1 - earthworm; 2 – woodlice; 3 – centipede; 4 – two-legged centipede; 5 – ground beetle larva; 6 – click beetle larva; 7 – mole cricket; 8 - Khrushchev larva

The ability to move through thin holes, almost without resorting to digging, is inherent only in species that have a body with a small cross-section, capable of bending strongly in winding passages (centipedes - drupes and geophiles). By pushing apart soil particles due to the pressure of the body walls, earthworms, larvae of long-legged mosquitoes, etc. move. Having fixed the rear end, they thin and lengthen the front, penetrating into narrow soil crevices, then secure the front part of the body and increase its diameter. In this case, in the expanded area, due to the work of the muscles, a strong hydraulic pressure of the non-compressible intracavitary fluid is created: in worms - the contents of the coelomic sacs, and in tipulids - the hemolymph. Pressure is transmitted through the body walls to the soil, and thus the animal expands the well. At the same time, the rear passage remains open, which threatens to increase evaporation and persecution of predators. Many species have developed adaptations to an ecologically more advantageous type of movement in the soil - digging and blocking the passage behind them. Digging is carried out by loosening and raking away soil particles. The larvae of various insects use for this the anterior end of the head, mandibles and forelimbs, expanded and strengthened by a thick layer of chitin, spines and outgrowths. At the rear end of the body, devices for strong fixation develop - retractable supports, teeth, hooks. To close the passage on the last segments, a number of species have a special depressed platform framed by chitinous sides or teeth, a kind of wheelbarrow. Similar areas are formed on the back of the elytra and in bark beetles, which also use them to clog the passages with drill flour. Closing the passage behind them, the animals that inhabit the soil are constantly in a closed chamber, saturated with the vapors of their own bodies.

Gas exchange of most species of this ecological group is carried out with the help of specialized respiratory organs, but at the same time it is supplemented by gas exchange through the integument. It is even possible that exclusively cutaneous respiration is possible, for example in earthworms and enchytraeids.

Burrowing animals can move away from layers where an unfavorable environment occurs. During drought and winter, they concentrate in deeper layers, usually several tens of centimeters from the surface.

Megafauna soils are large shrews, mainly mammals. A number of species spend their entire lives in the soil (mole rats, mole rats, zokora, Eurasian moles, golden moles

Africa, marsupial moles of Australia, etc.). They create entire systems of passages and burrows in the soil. The appearance and anatomical features of these animals reflect their adaptability to a burrowing underground lifestyle. They have underdeveloped eyes, a compact, ridged body with a short neck, short thick fur, strong digging limbs with strong claws. Mole rats and mole rats loosen the ground with their incisors. Soil megafauna also includes large oligochaetes, especially representatives of the family Megascolecidae, living in the tropics and the Southern Hemisphere. The largest of them, the Australian Megascolides australis, reaches a length of 2.5 and even 3 m.

In addition to the permanent inhabitants of the soil, a large ecological group can be distinguished among large animals burrow inhabitants (gophers, marmots, jerboas, rabbits, badgers, etc.). They feed on the surface, but reproduce, hibernate, rest, and escape danger in the soil. A number of other animals use their burrows, finding in them a favorable microclimate and shelter from enemies. Burrowers have structural features characteristic of terrestrial animals, but have a number of adaptations associated with the burrowing lifestyle. For example, badgers have long claws and strong muscles on the forelimbs, a narrow head, and small ears. Compared to hares that do not dig holes, rabbits have noticeably shortened ears and hind legs, a more durable skull, more developed bones and muscles of the forearms, etc.

For a number of ecological features, soil is a medium intermediate between aquatic and terrestrial. The soil is similar to the aquatic environment due to its temperature regime, low oxygen content in the soil air, its saturation with water vapor and the presence of water in other forms, the presence of salts and organic substances in soil solutions, and the ability to move in three dimensions.

The soil is brought closer to the air environment by the presence of soil air, the threat of drying out in the upper horizons, and rather sharp changes in the temperature regime of the surface layers.

The intermediate ecological properties of soil as a habitat for animals suggest that soil played a special role in the evolution of the animal world. For many groups, in particular arthropods, soil served as a medium through which initially aquatic inhabitants were able to transition to a terrestrial lifestyle and conquer land. This path of arthropod evolution was proven by the works of M. S. Gilyarov (1912–1985).

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Inhabitants of the soil. We had to look at the land in the yard, in the garden, in the field, on the river bank. Have you seen how little bugs are swarming in the ground? The soil is literally saturated with life - rodents, insects, worms, centipedes and other living organisms live in it at different depths. If these inhabitants of the soil are destroyed, the soil will not be fertile. If the soil becomes unfertile, then in winter we will have nothing to eat.

Inhabitants of the soil. Everyone is familiar with these animals - both adults and children. They live right under our feet, although we don’t always notice them. Lazy earthworms, clumsy larvae, nimble centipedes are born from earthen lumps crumbling under a shovel. Often we disdainfully throw them aside or immediately destroy them as pests of garden plants. How many of these creatures inhabit the soil and who are they our friends or enemies? Let's try to figure it out...

About the most inconspicuous ones... The roots of plants, myceliums of various mushrooms penetrate the soil. They absorb water and mineral salts dissolved in it. There are especially many microorganisms in the soil. So, in 1 sq. cm of soil contains tens and even hundreds of millions of bacteria, protozoa, single-celled fungi and even algae! Microorganisms decompose dead remains of plants and animals into simple minerals, which, dissolving in soil water, become available to plant roots.

Multicellular inhabitants of the soil Larger animals also live in the soil. These are primarily various mites, slugs, and some insects. They do not have special devices for digging passages in the soil, so they live shallow. But earthworms, centipedes, and insect larvae can make their own way. The earthworm pushes the soil particles apart with the head section of the body or “bites”, passing it through itself.

And now - about the largest ones... The largest permanent inhabitants of the soil are moles, shrews and mole rats. They spend their entire lives in the soil, in complete darkness, so they have undeveloped eyes. Everything about them is adapted for life underground: an elongated body, thick and short fur, strong digging front legs in the mole and powerful incisors in the mole rat. With their help they create complex systems passages, traps, storerooms.

Soil is home to a huge number of living organisms! So, numerous organisms live in the soil. What challenges do they face? Firstly, the soil is quite dense, and its inhabitants must live in microscopically small cavities or be able to dig and make their way. Secondly, light does not penetrate here, and the life of many organisms passes in complete darkness. Thirdly, there is not enough oxygen in the soil. But it is fully provided with water; it contains a lot of mineral and organic substances, the supply of which is constantly replenished by dying plants and animals. In the soil there are no such sharp temperature fluctuations as on the surface. All this creates favorable conditions for the life of numerous organisms. The soil is literally saturated with life, although it is not as noticeable as life on land or in a body of water.