A wide variety of soils and landscapes comprise the state of Florida. Soil is the portion of the earth's crust in which plants can grow if water and temperature are adequate, at least the minimum nutrients are available, and toxic substances are in low concentration. All soils develop from weathered rock, volcanic ash deposits, or accumulated plant residues.
Soils are often deposits of weathered, loosened, or transported particles.
When the complex of rock and plant residues described above is occupied and modified by living organisms, the dynamic system that we know as soil develops. The term soil biota refers to the organisms that spend all or a part of their life cycle in the soil. They have characteristics of both fungi and bacteria, having branching hyphae which are often brightly colored. Fungi Fungi make up the majority of the decomposer organisms in many forest soils. Perhaps the most significant group of fungi are those that form symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with tree roots.