"Millimetres below the surface in the twilight, subterranean world of the earthworm and the nematode, tens of thousands of new species of tiny organisms including bacteria, fungi, insects, mites and worms await discovery," the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a press release.

Soil-living organisms play a vital role in land fertility.

Land that is poor in these creatures often provides poor yields or is more prone to flood and drought.

They influence how much rainwater soils can absorb, help to eliminate pollutants and disease-causing germs from groundwater and influence soil's ability to absorb carbon from the air -- a vital factor in global warming.

Understanding how these organisms live could help poor farmers working on marginal or depleted soil, as well as throw up genetic knowledge that could be used to design new antibiotics and other drugs.

The scientists will work in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mexico and Uganda in a 26-million-dollar project also supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Rockefeller Foundation.

SPACE.WIRE