Horizon B

Bacteria

Bacteria can grow in any conditions, many varying according to thier feeding stuff. They are preyed upon by springtails who can detect their spores.  Bacteria are tiny, one-celled organisms about (1 µm). A teaspoon of decent soil 100 million - 1 billion bacteria. That is as much mass as two cows per acre. – a tonne. 

The most famous are the 'nitrogen fixing bacteria. Using a similar metabolic mechanism as used by fungi with roots, bacteria evolved later to live with roots of legumes, providing them with nutrients that have nitrogen in them. This is an important metabolic reaction as it takes a lot of energy to split the airborne nitrogen (N2 has 3 strong bonds) into chemicals like ammonia which can be incorporated into proteins. Witness the amount of energy used in the Bosch process to fix atmospheric nitrogen for making nitrogen fertilisers. The energy used is one of the major contributors to global warming. According to Stern report it exceeds that of methane. 

Many have tried to harness the power of these bacteria, and some have used them as fertiliser.