GEMET
General
Multilingual
Environmental
Thesaurus
soil function
Definition

The main soil function is participation in the material transformation and migrating processes occurring in the natural environment on which the functioning of ecosystems depends. The most active participants in the occurring processes are microorganisms and invertebrates, whose activity, different variety, complex structure, and abundance accurately reflect the soil type and its characteristics: so they are important indicators of ecological stability. The variety of soil organisms determine its self-regulatory and self-cleaning capacity.

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Scope note

Scope note is not available.

Concept URL: http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept/3524