Soils as the Skyscrapers

Abstract

Whenever we observe a skyscraper, we immediately recognize an extremely tall building usually made of concrete, steel, and glass towering above nearby buildings. Our experience assures us that inside the huge structure, ample space provides a healthy environment with human activities pulsating normally owing to sophisticated forms of machinery operating within the remainder of the skyscraper’s internal structure. On the other hand, when we look at a soil clod, we are completely unaware that we have an ultramicroscopic skyscraper in our palm. Thinking of the clod as a solid mass, we cannot imagine it as an ideal home for organisms living within its cavities. It never occurs to us that its cavities, occupying about one-half the volume of the clod, provide a healthy environment for its huge number of tiny animals and plants living together.