Beneath our feet

Living in our soil is a wealth of wildlife, and it is more vital to us than we think, says Norfolk Wildlife Trust Reserves Officer Robert Morgan.

We are all guilty, to a lesser or greater extent, of repeating factual platitudes that we know are probably wrong, or only half true. One of my favourite, often quoted, ‘fact’ is ‘…that I would have to eat five oranges to obtain the same quantity of vitamin C that my grandfather would have acquired from just one’. Upon fact-checking this rather doubtful assertion, I found, as is so often the case, the truth is far stranger. A number of seemingly reliable sources suggest that studies have shown that this could be as much as eight oranges to one.

This may sound astounding, but crops grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the vegetables, fruit and grains we eat today. These essential elements of healthy food are being removed from soil at a greater rate than they can be replenished, and human activity has disrupted the natural mechanisms that would normally provide them. Fertilisers, pesticides, artificial selection and industrial scale monocultures continue to produce fast growing pest-resistant plants, but each crop is less nutritious for us than the last. Another one of those often repeated ‘factual statements’ is that ‘UK farmland has only fifty more harvests left in it’. This may sound alarmist, even apocalyptic, but upon the parliamentary launch of the Sustainable Soils Alliance (SSA), the then Environment Secretary Michael Gove warned: ‘The UK is 30 years away from fundamental eradication of soil fertility’.

We all understand that clean air and water are essential for a healthy, balanced environment. There has been much discussion on the subject, particularly around the continuing failure to significantly improve the quality of both. However, less media attention has been drawn to the equally important issue of soil health.

One may well ask, ‘So, what’s this got to do with Norfolk’s wildlife?’ The answer, is everything.

Like our skin, the organic topsoil is quite thin, anywhere between a few millimetres to a couple of metres thick. None-the-less it is a vital organ for the function of complex life on Earth. It is a broth of interconnected organisms, so convoluted, scientists are just on the cusp of understanding its multifaceted functions. Trillions of bacteria, of unknown varieties, live within soil. In fact, the few antibiotics we have at our disposal come from soil.

Healthy natural soil is criss-crossed by countless highways of mycorrhizal fungi, their thread-like hyphae imbed into plant roots allowing them, and particularly trees, to communicate. This discovery coined a new phrase: ‘The Wood Wide Web’.

Plants offer fungi sugars and starch from the process of photosynthesis. In return the fungi enable plants to absorb minerals and nutrients, such as riboflavin and calcium, and trace metals such as magnesium, zinc and iron. Deep ploughing has removed this fungus /plant link, and artificial fertilisers – as opposed to organic compost – lack minerals. One has only to observe a vibrant green ‘fairy-ring’ in the lawn to see the positive affect a fungus can have on grass growth.

I recall an experiment at school, where different coloured earth was layered in a thin glass case, creating a rainbow effect (albeit in shades of brown). Earthworms were added and the whole thing was covered with wet dead leaves. Within days, the leaves were pulled down into the earth and the layered structure became blurred. Within weeks all the tiers had almost combined together. Our earthworms, significant engineers of soil, are under threat in the UK. An introduced flatworm from New Zealand, most likely accidently imported with ferns to garden centres, is on the rampage. They have a furious appetite for earthworms, which have no protection against them. In some areas of the country the flatworms are in epidemic proportions.

But it is not just invasive non-native species that are playing havoc with our soil engineers. We have almost lost our dung beetle population due to chemical livestock treatments. Aimed at killing parasites, the resulting horse and cow dung is toxic to the creatures that would normally break it down in a natural way. Dung beetles excavate tunnels beneath cowpats and drag balls of it underground for its larvae to feed on. This is excellent for soil health, both enriching it and breaking up any compaction.

Thousands of species of insects rely on healthy soil to complete their lifecycles, and these are fed upon by blackbirds, robins and starlings; the latter being in sharp decline, it’s believed, due to a lack of leatherjackets and other soil living larvae on which they feed their young.

Ask most people to name an animal that lives underground, and they will probably say the mole. The poor ol’ mole! That little mud hill appearing each morning on the lawn is the bane of some gardeners’ lives. However, the mole plays an important part in preventing soil compaction, its tunnels help with drainage of flooded ground and the light fluffy soil of a mole hill is important for enabling the seeds of several wildflowers to germinate.

From microscopic bacteria, through to earthworms and the velvet-coated mole, they all play an important role in creating nutrient rich soil for our food to grow in. Norfolk Wildlife Trust understands that recovering our county’s wildlife is crucial for improving our own health and wellbeing too.

That’s why our Nature Recovery team is growing, so we can help even more wildlife across Norfolk’s landscapes to thrive. We’re exploring ways to work in tandem with partners and landowners right across the county to support wildlife, all the while improving our ecosystems that provide us with clean air, water and soil.

Why not consider giving your soil a little more love?

Minimise digging to avoid disturbing the complex soil life.
Look for natural methods of pest control such as non-chemical deterrents or companion planting.
Plant traditional fruits and vegetables that have better pest resistance.
Produce your own organic compost.
Instead of tap water, where possible harvest rainwater in butts.

Visit: wildlifetrusts.org/gardening for more wildlife-friendly gardening tips.

Header image: soil by Lauren Heather

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