Tag: soil-food-web

The second video in my series on Soil Microscopy is now available on the videos page. The theme is Protists (sometimes called Protozoa). There are three main types of Protist which form part of the Soil Food Web family; these are Amoeba, Flagellates and Ciliates. They are much smaller than the nematodes, if you have a good eye you can spot them at 100 fold magnification but they are best viewed at 400 fold magnification (or higher).

I have tried to capture the Protists in their various forms (testate, encysted and naked) to give you a sense of what you might expect to see under the microscope.

Hopefully you find the video a useful guide for your own exploration of soil ecosystems – Enjoy!

I’m excited to share with you a couple of new resources that I am compiling to supplement the Growing Better theme.

The first resource is a new gallery page where I am uploading images from my soil microscopy studies. If you ever wondered what common Soil Food Web members look like then hopefully these images will help you.

The second resource is a set of short videos which provide further perspective on some of the more mobile Soil Food Web fauna. I’ve started with a quick overview on nematodes which are perhaps the easiest things to spot when looking under the microscope even at low magnification.

I will gradually be adding to these resources as I explore more soil and compost samples over the coming months. Hopefully you will find them useful in your own exploration of soil ecosystems.