The research is in and scientists say that more than half of all life on our planet lives under the surface. Now they’re calling the subterranean world the “singular most biodiverse habitat on Earth".
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Life on Earth. That includes birds in the sky, animals moving across the savannah, even
00:08us living in cities and going about our lives. However, according to a new report published
00:13in the journal PNAS, most of the life that lives on this planet lives underneath the
00:17surface. The report estimates that some 59% of all life on the planet lives underground,
00:24which they say makes the soil the quote, singular most biodiverse habitat on Earth. That's
00:29mainly due to the fact that 88% of bacteria, 85% of plants, and 90% of fungi, as well as
00:35large portions of other creatures like viruses, live in the dirt. But 4% of mammal species
00:40do as well. And while there's still a ton we don't know about the soil and its impacts
00:43on life globally, the researchers say this is yet another indicator of just how important
00:48the habitat is. Telling the Guardian in a recent interview, quote, organisms in soil
00:52play an outweighed impact on the balance of our planet. Their biodiversity matters because
00:57soil life affects climate change feedback, global food security, and even human health.
01:02Which is why the researchers are now calling for more conservation efforts with regards
01:06to literally preserving our planet's dirt.