CLIMATE CHANGE
The Compost Creatures Helping Us Battle Climate Change
The role of tiny decomposers within the soil food web, and the link between climate change & species extinction.
Remember the last time you enjoyed a walk in a forest? Do you remember the species you saw? If you were lucky, you might answer that you saw deer, squirrels, or even a bear in the distance. The more botanically-minded might mention the trees, shrubs, flowers, moss, even mushrooms.
However, we may need to pay more attention to something as important as those easy-to-spot species. Beneath our feet is a hidden world teeming with tiny creatures that break down fallen leaves and other forest “waste.” Nature’s recycling system. This process, called decomposition, is crucial for healthy ecosystems. It recycles nutrients back into the soil, where plants can use them to grow. And they also play a vital, and lesser known, role in shaping our climate.
If you are interested in the science of climate change, you have probably heard this multiple times: Climate change and species extinction crises go hand in hand. We know that fighting one and ignoring the other will take us nowhere. Yet conservation efforts too often focus on the big, charismatic species or megafauna. Everything…
