00:03Desert. Swamp. Moor. Forest. Nature offers a dazzling array of landscapes.
00:17To understand where this wealth of diversity comes from,
00:21we must delve a few meters underground into what we commonly call the soil.
00:30We're just beginning to discover that plants form partnerships and create complex unions.
00:37Welcome to this subtle, surprising and secret world.
01:02Let us begin our journey at the threshold where the realms of air and earth meet, on the surface of
01:09the ground.
01:15Here in this border zone, nature recycles what it has produced.
01:21Leaves from trees and plant debris form what we call litter.
01:25In other words, the thin layer of organic detritus that covers the ground.
01:35Jean-Francois Pange is a researcher at the Museum of Natural History in Paris.
01:41As an expert in soil life, when he walks through the forest, he sees things an ordinary hiker would barely
01:48notice.
01:51For a leaf to decompose, it needs enough time for microorganisms to inhabit and use it.
01:58And for animals to transform it.
02:01That can take between one and ten years or more, depending on how rich the soil is, and also on
02:08the climate.
02:09The climate.
02:10Transcription by CastingWords
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