Aggregates are a basic unit of soil structure.
Maintenance of soil structure is key to sustainable agroecosytems. Good soil structure promotes favorable water relations and rooting environment for plants. Well-structured soils build up organic matter and are less susceptible to erosion. Organic materials are the main stabilizers of soil aggregates . Microbes contribute much of that by their activity in decomposing plant, animal, and microbial remains , by their own biomass, and by the products they form while decomposing organic residues.