Guano is a word that originates from Quechua, the Andean indigenous language, and means, “the droppings of seabirds.” The Andean people collected guano for soil conditioning for well over 1,500 years. The ancient Inca Empire so valued seabird guano as a fertiliser, the disturbance of the birds, from which they derived their treasure, was punishable […]
Examine any segment of soil and you’ll find that it’s home to many different kinds of arthropods. Some arthropods are microscopically small while others are several inches long: from insects—such as beetles and ants—to myriapods—such as centipedes and millipedes—to arachnids—such as spiders, scorpions and mites. In fact, within a single square kilometre of soil, several […]
Microbes are microscopic organisms that live everywhere. Going by the names of “bacteria,” “fungi,” “actinomycetes,” “algae,” “protozoa,” and “nematodes,” they live in water, in soil, in air and in rock. While some species of microbe are extremely delicate, destroyed by the slightest change to their environment, other microbe species are hardy and resilient. Within a […]
