Beneath your feet is a whole world packed with soil animals that you've probably never seen before, but which shaped our planet. Some of these creatures are responsible for decomposing dead animals and plants, detritus etc and recycling it back into nutrients; other creatures tend to plant roots, keeping them working efficiently and in doing so, inadvertently propagate the mycorrhizal fungal network.
0:00 Introduction
0:19 What is a soil zoologist?
0:42 Creatures that tend to plant roots
1:34 The decomposers
2:05 How did soil shape our planet?
Speaker Profile: Dr Charlie Clutterbuck is Research Fellow in Food Policy at City University, London. Charlie gained three degrees – in Agricultural Zoology (Newcastle University), Plant Sciences and Soil Ecology (Wye College, London University). It was while doing his Masters in Plant Science that he realised the fascinating history of food plants and how they have shaped our world. He went on to do his doctorate in the effects of herbicides on soil animals. He then worked for the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science, where he started to explore the relation between science and society, which has excited him ever since.
He has written much on food and farming including the books ‘More than we can chew’ and ‘P is for Pesticides’. He was a member of the government’s expert Advisory Committee on Pesticides. He develops web sites like www.EthicalGrowers.org.uk for retailers to grow to ethical standards and www.sustainablefood.com with links to up to date reports and www.soilanimals.com, as his contribution to this, the International Year of Soils. He is now developing the ‘sustainable’ strand in a new Food Entrepreneurship degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.
