The Classification of Soil Microorganisms

Consumption Qualities

• One way to classify soil microorganisms is via their innate purposes. For instance, some soil microorganisms consume bacteria and thus are labeled bacterivores, while fungivores target fungi and microorganisms called detritivores, which include millipedes, eat dead plant material. Detritivores essentially eradicate the remains of organic material in the environment. They actually improve a soil's texture and caliber, thus creating an adequate environment for effective plant growth.

Other Eating Information

• Unlike detritivores, bacterivores and fungivores are considered decomposers. They essentially change whatever debris the detritivores leave behind into carbon dioxide, which plants need to produce food. This debris includes dead plant parts, dead animal parts, old skin and even detritivores' feces. Bacterivores and fungivores break down nutrients such as nitrogen and magnesium, which make the soil richer and therefore improve growth opportunities for vegetation. Because they convert matter into carbon dioxide for plants, these soil microorganisms really contribute to the production of oxygen on the earth.

Other Groups

• Soil microorganisms also include other classification groups including microarthropods, protozoa and nematodes. Nematodes can be harmful in that they can eat plant roots, but they also can be helpful by releasing nutrients in forms that plants can absorb. Nematodes eat other nematodes, fungi and bacteria. Meanwhile, protozoa eat other protozoa and bacteria and help the environment by returning nitrogen to the soil. Microarthropods such as mites use organic matter and help reduce energy bound up in fungi and bacteria.

Carbon Dioxide Use

• The classification of soil microorganisms also can be based on how these organisms obtain the important nutrient carbon. For example, soil microorganisms called autotrophs typically get carbon from carbon dioxide. They then use photosynthesis -- the process in which plants turn sunlight into food energy -- to capture the energy they need to survive. On the other hand, heterotrophs such as fungi draw carbon from organic compounds, and these compounds also provide them with required energy. Various types of bacteria can fall into both the autotroph and heterotroph categories.