Soil supports an enormous share of life on Earth. Soil stores water, carbon, and nutrients, supports agriculture, and provides habitat for countless organisms. Scientists estimate that more than half of Earth’s biodiversity exists below the surface. But soil biodiversity is declining, threatening agriculture, food security, and the ability of ecosystems to function properly.
Researchers from the University of Zurich and Agroscope in Switzerland have found a creative way to measure what’s happening beneath our feet: by burying underwear.
As part of a citizen science project called “Proof by Underpants,” 1,000 volunteers buried more than 2,000 pairs of cotton underwear and 12,000 tea bags at approximately 1,000 sites across Switzerland. After two months, they dug them up, photographed them, and sent the material and soil samples to the lab for further study.
The findings, which were recently published in the journal Plants, People, Planet, produced a map of biological activity across Swiss soils. The research team found that the more active the soil organisms, the faster the cotton material decomposed.
Private gardens showed the fastest decomposition while lawns had the slowest. Agricultural fields and meadows fell somewhere in the middle. Researchers found that land use had the strongest influence on decomposition.
The researchers say an “underwear index” could eventually help people better understand soil health and highlight how everyday land management can either support or harm the hidden ecosystems beneath our feet.
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Why scientists asked 1,000 people to bury their underwear
