Soil Health & Biology

Aug 20

2 min read

Explore the work of people investigating, documenting and teaching about plants, ecosystems and environmental change.

Shanti Plants - The Earth Provides

Natural-light close-up cross-section of healthy garden soil with plant roots, crumbly soil aggregates, fine white fungal threads, an earthworm and small arthropods moving through pores in the soil. — Healthy living soil beneath garden plants, showing roots growing through stable soil aggregates alongside fine fungal threads, an earthworm and small soil-dwelling arthropods. Together, these features illustrate the physical structure and biological activity that support soil health.

Healthy soil functions as a living system. Bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, nematodes, arthropods, earthworms and roots break down organic material, form soil structure and move nutrients through food webs. Their presence and activity depend on moisture, oxygen, temperature, pH, food sources and disturbance.

What This Index Covers

This index covers the soil food web, decomposition, nutrient cycling, root exudates, mycorrhizal and nitrogen-fixing relationships, disease-suppressive processes, organic matter and practical indicators of biological activity. It avoids treating one organism count or commercial product as a complete measure of soil health.

Browse Resources

Browse the resource areas currently organised under this index. Links can be added as reviewed articles and records are published.

Soil food webs - Connecting decomposers, grazers, predators and plant roots.

Decomposition and nutrient cycling - Following organic materials as they are transformed and reused.

Roots and microbes - Understanding rhizosphere activity and mutualistic relationships.

Organic matter and habitat - Providing carbon, cover and physical conditions for soil life.

Biological indicators - Using respiration, earthworms, roots and residue breakdown with context.

Disturbance and recovery - Considering tillage, compaction, pesticides, drought and waterlogging.

Read First

Before using these resources for identification, growing, harvesting, conservation, community work or other practical decisions, read:

What Soil Biology Can and Cannot Tell You

Mycorrhizae, Inoculants & Evidence

Organic Inputs, Pathogens & Safe Handling

Coverage and Evidence

Biological activity changes rapidly with season and moisture. A single observation cannot prove that a soil is healthy or unhealthy, and high activity is not always beneficial if it reflects rapid loss of organic matter. Product claims for microbial inoculants should be assessed by organism, crop, soil and trial conditions. Combine biological indicators with physical, chemical and plant observations.

The Earth's Resource Map and Learn library are being built progressively. Indexed means that a topic or resource can be connected to its identity, source and broad context; it does not mean that every claim has been verified or localised. Evidence is assessed claim by claim. Where information is missing, uncertain, restricted or location-dependent, that limitation should remain visible.

Last Reviewed

19 August 2026

This date records review of this index-page copy and its resource structure. Individual articles, records, laws, project details and evidence may have different publication and review dates.