M ANAGING THE SOIL FOOD WEB

Applied soil biology

Duane Marcus
The Urban Gardener, Inc.
www.theurbangardener.com

Employee Training Manual - Managing the Soil Food Web 1

 W H AT IS THE SOIL FOOD WEB ANYWAY ?
The soil food web is the interaction of the soil microorganisms with each other and with plant
roots. A$ members must be present in the proportions required by the plants you want to grow.

Who are these soil microorganisms anyway and what do they do?
BACTERIA F U N G I PROTOZOA N E M AT O D E S MICRO-
A RT H RO P O D S

NUTRIENT RETENTION NUTRIENT MAKE NUTRIENTS MAKE NUTRIENTS AVAIL- MAKE NUTRIENTS AVAIL-
RETENTION AVAILABLE ABLE ABLE

DISEASE SUPPRESSION DISEASE SUP- BUILD SOIL STRUC- BUILD SOIL STRUCTURE BUILD SOIL STRUCTURE
PRESSION TURE

BUILD SOIL STRUCTURE BUILD SOIL STIMULATE PREY GROUPS STIMULATE PREY GROUPS
STRUCTURE

DECOMPOSE TOXINS DECOMPOSE INHIBIT ROOT-FEEDING TAXI CABS FOR ALL OTHER
TOXINS NEMATODES ORGANISMS

BACTERIA BENEFICIAL PROTOZOA FUNGUS-FEEDING

NEMATODE
CLUSTER FUNGI

So how do they do it?

Bacteria and fungi consume dead organic matter and breakdown soil particles to get nutrients. To get en-
ergy to do their work they depend on roots to feed provide them with “ cakes and cookies” in the form of
simple sugars, carbohydrates and protein exudates. Bacteria and fungi concentrate and hold on to nitro-
gen, sulfur, calcium and other nutrients so they do not leach out of the soil.

Bacteria secrete glues that bind them to soil particles, fungal hyphae, and each other, creating micropores
in the soil. Fungi attach themselves to soil particles and organic matter also creating soil structure.

Both bacteria and fungi out-compete disease organisms for nutrients so that diseases cannot get estab-
lished. Having large populations of beneficial organisms insures that disease organisms will not survive.

Bacteria and fungi break down toxins such as pesticides into nutrients they can use and carbon and water.

Employee Training Manual - Managing the Soil Food Web 2

And what do plants get out of the deal?
In return for providing fungi and bacteria with “cakes and cookies”, the fungi and bacteria go to work col-
lecting the nutrients the plants need to grow. But the fungi and bacteria are kind of selfish and want to
have their cake and eat it too. That’s where protozoa, nematodes, and microarthropods come in. Being
very generous organisms they eat up the bacteria and fungi (and sometimes each other) and give up some
of the nutrients to the roots of the plants. Being large and clumsy creatures they push around the aggre-
gates made by the bacteria and fungi creating macropores in the soil where air and water can get in. The
microarthropods like to run up and down the roots so all the other organisms attach themselves the them
and ride through the soil.

That’s why we call it a web!

As you can see if any of the members of the web, including the plants, are absent the system breaks down
and our plants don’t grow well or get diseases or both. Pesticides, chemical fertilizers, fires, plowing, grad-
ing, drought and other disturbances upset the balance. The goals of managing the soil food web are to de-
termine which players are missing, figure out how to get them back into the game and keep them healthy
so they can do their jobs.

Employee Training Manual - Managing the Soil Food Web 3