Crop nutrition
Decomposers and mycorrhizae feed plants.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Familiarity48
Medical weight15
Benefit85
Risk20
Research65
Live debate18
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Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
Where should I start with Soil microbes?
Read Identity → How they live → Body & health, then use compare rails.
Is this page advice for Soil microbes?
Public-health education — not a care plan, prescription, or outbreak briefing.
What does the local lens add?
It names everyday desks for Beneficial allies before English norms look universal.
Are the scores a ranking of Soil microbes?
No — editorial 0–100 browsing aids inside this atlas only.
How do I compare Soil microbes to neighbours?
Use related cards and best-of / quiz rails after the first three chapters.
Which chapter is densest?
How they live and Body & health carry mechanisms; skim Identity first.
Allies grow our crops and compost our waste. Risks include a few spore-formers in wounds.
Tetanus vaccination is the public tool for a famous soil spore. This page does not treat wounds.
Body interfaces
Compost
Household heaps farm microbes to return nutrients.
Antibiotic history
Soil chemistry remade clinics. Modern supply is industrial.
Wound spores
Clostridium tetani lives as spores in soil. Vaccination is public health.
Plant disease
Some soil fungi wilt crops. That is agriculture, not a reason to fear every handful.
Urban soils
Lead and compaction can matter more than germs. Test gardens in old cities.
Do not excavate a garden for a pathogen collection.
Keep exploring
More in Beneficial allies
Gut microbiome
A diverse intestinal community fed by fibre — not a single ideal species list and not a wellness shop.
Familiarity 88Probiotics
Live microbes in food or capsules — strain-specific guests, not a whole microbiome and not medical advice.
Familiarity 90Fermentation
Microbes turning food into kimchi, doenjang, yoghurt and other living crafts — chemistry plus culture.
Familiarity 85Skin microbiome
A site-specific living film — oily, moist and dry neighbourhoods, not a sterile wrapper.
Familiarity 62Nitrogen cycle
How microbes move nitrogen between air, soil, water and food — plus the industrial shortcut that feeds billions.
Familiarity 40