If I asked you to close your eyes and imagine the biodiversity of a forest, you might picture walking through the trees and observing mammals, birds, ground plants, and the insects flying past in a blur of tiny wings. But dare I say this would be missing the wood for the trees, since most of the biological diversity in forests lies hidden beneath your feet. It may not seem like it at first glance, but soil is one of the most biodiverse habitats on Earth. In fact, most terrestrial systems have more biomass in their soil than they do above ground, and there is more carbon locked in the soil beneath a forest than in the trees above.
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