It’s not easy being a soil scientist at a meeting of the
Convention on Biological Diversity. After all, when tigers,
whales, and orchids are in danger, who cares about worms? “It
would be an important step if anyone here at COP 10 noticed soil
biodiversity exists,” said Luca Montanarella, SOIL Action Leader
with the European Commission here to promote a brand new
European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity that he edited. No one knows
exactly how many organisms live underground, but Montanarella
said they probably represent at least a quarter, and probably
over half, of all the species on Earth. Soil-dwelling species
range from moles (one of the few vertabrates that spends its
whole life underground) to ants, beetles, spiders and
millipedes. The vast majority of species that live in dirt,
however, are too small to see with the naked eye. This category
includes fantastically bizarre creatures, like the Polyacanthus
aculeatus (a spine-covered micro-armadillo), the Paracineta
lauterborn (a globular protozoan which would