Theory 104/Soil Science
Aggregates Need Fungal Bias
The claim
Aggregate stability is set by the ratio of fungal to bacterial biomass rather than by total microbial biomass.
01The mechanism
Fungal hyphae bind particles into stable aggregates; bacterial-dominated communities lack the binding structures.
02Predictions
- P1Stability should track the ratio.
- P2Total biomass should mispredict.
03Refutation
Stability tracking total biomass would remove the composition term.