The math translates into an ecological windfall for a necessarily critical mass of soil turnover, nutrient recycling, and various GHG sequestration, not to mention nitrification.

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Dr Bowden and his colleagues also hope to understand the impact of thermokarst activity on the structure of the soil, and its nutrient content.

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Lettuces usually shouldn't be planted near lavender: Leafy greens like nutrient-rich soil, while lavenders do better in drier conditions.

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Biodiversity, which includes species, ecosystems, and ecological processes, is essential for the long-term maintenance of ecosystem services like photosynthesis, nutrient recycling, soil fertility, provision of fresh water, disaster prevention, and many others.

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These included soil microbes, which govern the nutrient cycling reactions in soils, and mycorrhizae, root-colonising fungi which help plants to absorb nutrients.

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That means building futuristic structures that use wastewater and solar power to produce hydroponic (grown in a nutrient-rich water, without soil) and aeroponic (grown in water-saturated air) crops.

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In an area of a few tens of square kilometres around this tower, the researchers will place further sensors in the soil and in local streams, to measure temperature, carbon-dioxide and nutrient levels, along with rates of root growth and the activities of microbes.

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