reviewProceedings of the National Academy of SciencesAug 7, 2023GREEN OA

Enumerating soil biodiversity

MAMark AnthonySFS. Franz BenderMGMarcel G. A. van der Heijden

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research · Agroscope · +1 more institution

PubMed
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Abstract

Soil is an immense habitat for diverse organisms across the tree of life, but just how many organisms live in soil is surprisingly unknown. Previous efforts to enumerate soil biodiversity consider only certain types of organisms (e.g., animals) or report values for diverse groups without partitioning species that live in soil versus other habitats. Here, we reviewed the biodiversity literature to show that soil is likely home to 59 ± 15% of the species on Earth. We therefore estimate an approximately two times greater soil biodiversity than previous estimates, and we include representatives from the simplest (microbial) to most complex (mammals) organisms. Enchytraeidae have the greatest percentage of species…

Citation impact

441
total citations
FWCI
118.25
Percentile
100%
References
116
Citations per year

Authors

3

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Biodiversity
  • Enchytraeidae
  • Habitat
  • Soil biodiversity
  • Ecology
  • Biology
  • Agroforestry
  • Geography
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Life in Land
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