Birds, butterflies, soil microbes, beetles, earthworms, spiders, vegetation, and mammals are particularly affected.
Others are formulated with vitamins, plant enzymes and soil microbes.
Soil aggregation can physically protect organic carbon from decay by soil microbes.
There is a mixture of degradable processes being used, such as soil microbes and photosensitive degradation.
However, above pH 5 the soil microbes become more than acaule can manage and the plants rot.
Others are indirect, like the ecosystem services delivered by healthy populations of pollinators, biological control agents, and soil microbes.
Dirt is a significant part of a child's diet, he said, but health problems from soil microbes are almost unknown.
Over time, the nutrients fixed by soil microbes and humus are released and available to crops.
Thatch is broken down naturally by a healthy population of soil microbes, insects and earthworms.
Other scientists say the process could be offset by an increase in earthworms and soil microbes.