The roles of microbe in the topsoil and biodiversity?

Question

The roles of microbe in the topsoil and biodiversity?

Answer 1

Microbes like fungus and certain bacteria break down organic matter and enrich the soil with nutrients that are then available for plants.  Without them, there wouldn't be nearly the amount of recycling of nutrients so the total biomass would be drastically reduced.  That decrease in the biomass would make it more difficult for multiple layers of a food chain so the diversity would be reduced.