Chapter 5 "Realms of the Soil" Summary

Without the earth's soil, there could be no plants; and without plants, there could be no animals of any kind. Life depends on the soil, and the soil depends on animal life to be replenished and nourished. Soil is constantly changing in the continuous cycle of life and death in which all materials and living things participate. The smallest organisms on earth live in the soil: bacteria, fungi, and algae. These organisms facilitate the process of decay, so that as living things die, they become part of the soil, providing habitat and food for more plants and thus, for more animals. Specific chemical processes are involved in this cycle of life and death.

Other creatures dependent upon the soil - and upon which the soil is dependent as well - are tiny insects...