How Soil Microbes Cycle Nutrients

Soil microbes drive nutrient cycling, organic matter turnover, and ecosystem stability. A gram of soil can contain thousands of bacterial and archaeal taxa, but their shared job is what helps sustain land ecosystems. Their activity changes the way carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients move through soil.

Soil hosts diverse microbial communities, including fungi, protists, and bacteria.

Soil microbes primarily reside on soil particles and within pore spaces formed by the soil’s structure and texture.

Fungi and bacteria are the primary decomposers. They secrete extracellular enzymes that break down cellulose into absorbable sugars.