Global team of scientists find ecosystem below earth that is twice the size of world’s oceans
Source: Scientists identify vast underground ecosystem containing billions of micro-organisms
There is just so much we don’t know about microbial ecology. Many people now know that the microbes on us and in us outnumber our own cells nearly 50 to 1 but they don’t translate that knowledge into the realization that all other animals are most likely similar and have incredibly complex microflora as well. All the animals that you believe should be protected bats, owls, hummingbirds, compost worms, bees, even black soldier flies and their larvae :-). Most of the microbes in these systems are in close contact with their neighbors and the other organisms in their environment. They often form what are referred to as biofilms. Biology is awesome!