What is the importance of rocks towards living organisms/plants?
Hοw dο rocks affect thе lifestyles οf plants аnd small living organisms (roly polies, worms, etc.)?
Thanks.
What is the importance of rocks towards living organisms/plants?
Hοw dο rocks affect thе lifestyles οf plants аnd small living organisms (roly polies, worms, etc.)?
Thanks.
Well, the erosion of the “parent rock” will heavily influence the composition of a potential soil deposited further down. Depending on the initial minerals in the rock, it may be very rich , or it may be nearly impossible for anything to live in or on.
The organisms also affect the rock though, because they can really be a large part of the erosion process, as their roots burrow into the rock, chipping off teeny-tiny pieces.
It’s really a symbiosis, not a rock versus life, life versus rock. That’s a bit of the incredible part of how Planet works.
There’s really an entire field of science devoted to studying these kinds of questions. It’s called, not surprisingly, geobiology.
One example of geobiological research in a present context is the study of bacteria that “breathe” metals such as manganese and uranium. These organisms use metals as terminal electron acceptors in the same way that humans use oxygen.
Hypoliths, extremophiles that live underneath rocks in climatically extreme deserts, rely on their rocks for survival. The organisms are protected from ultraviolet radiaton and wind scouring by their rock shelter.
Endoliths are another type of extremophile, except these ones really live surrounded by the rocks. These also need the rocks for nutrients, metabolizing minerals such as iron and sulfur from the rock.