The Rain Forests

Whenever tropical rain forests are mentioned, the first things that come to mind are dazzling butterflies, unusual-looking insects, and large, broad-leaved, trees. Rain forests are found in regions close to the equator and consist of dense trees that are always green and very tall. These forests' most important feature is the extraordinary number of plant and animal species they contain. A tropical rain forest, millions of square kilometers in size, is home to a wide variety of species.

Around 250 years ago, the first European researchers to set foot in the rain forests of South America were astonished by the variety of life they encountered. Each new study again revealed the diversity of plant and animal species.

A rain forest in the tropical belt has very different characteristics from those of other forests. For one thing, underneath the very tall trees 50 meters (164 feet) high, there are medium-sized ones, such as palm, cedar, mahogany and figs. The trunks and branches of these are covered in bright orchids, cacti, ferns and mosses. The lowest layer in the forest, the grass layer, consists of a dense vegetation covering and hosts a great variety of insect, bacteria and fungi species. In short, a rain forest's most characteristic feature is the variety of life that so amazes us.

A rain forest’s most characteristic feature is the astonishing variety of life it contains. One hectare (10,000 square meters, or 11,960 square yards) of tropical rain forest may contain more than 600 different species of trees. In a single day, 440 species of butterflies can be collected in one region of the Amazon Basin. Forty-three separate species of ant and 650 different insect species can be found living on a single tree.

Rain forests comprise just 7% of the land surface, yet contain more than 50% of the plant and animal species on Earth. Researchers also state that this last percentage may change as we learn more about biodiversity. The well-known Smithsonian Institute researcher Thomas Lovejoy makes a very apposite statement: "The larger point is that the more people look at the tropical forest in different ways, as Terry Erwin has done, the more biodiversity there seems to be."41

The micro-organisms, tiny insects, bacteria, fungi, leaf-cutter and other species of ant that live on the rain forest floor are responsible for cleaning the forest and keeping it fertile.

So that you can envision the diversity in question. One hectare (10,000 square meters, or 11,960 square yards) of tropical rain forest can contain more than 600 different species of trees.42 In one region of the Amazon Basin, 440 species of butterfly can be collected in a single day.43 Forty-three separate species of ants 44 and 650 different species of insect can be found on a single tree.45 In this same region, one can also encounter hundreds of species of bird in a 1-kilometer (1,094-yard) area of forest. Taking ten species of tree in Borneo as an example, there are more than 2,800 different arthropods on them.46 The number of insect species living in tropical forests is estimated to be in the millions.47

These numbers do not represent the total number of living organisms in a particular habitat, just the number of species. Another astonishing fact is that in tropical rain forests, according to some experts, millions or even tens of millions of living things live in complete harmony and co-operation.

Soil in tropical rain forests is generally thought of as being rich and fertile. Recently, however, it has been realized that this is not so. In terms of nutrients, the soil is poor, compared to that of other forests.48 How did such a great variety of plants emerge from poor soil? The answer lies in the perfection of the rain forest ecosystem.

The biodiversity in tropical forests has been created as a whole, and is based on very delicate, complementary balances. For instance, consider the micro-organisms, minute insects and fungi living on the forest floor. Their dimensions are very small in comparison to the trees and animals, yet they are responsible for cleaning the forest and making the soil productive. They break down dead animals and leaves and branches that fall from the trees, recycling them back into the ecosystem. In this way, nothing is wasted. Professor Wilson describes the importance of this mechanism:

The leafcutters and other kinds of ants, together with bacteria, fungi, termites and mites, process most of the dead vegetation and return its nutrients to the plants to keep the great tropical forests alive. 49

We still do not know how many millions of species live in tropical rain forests, but we do know that every species has a different task and importance in these ecosystems, and that these species live together in harmony. This is expressed in an article about Amazon rain forests in the Turkish magazine Bilim ve Teknik ("Science and Technique"):

The continuity of species in this Amazon Basin's complex ecosystem is based on their close dependence on one another. Every species, be it plant or animal, contributes to part of this system with its millions of components. Trees, the epiphytes on trees, fungi, monkeys, vampire bats, eagles, parrots, the crocodiles, piranha fish and lilies in the river, and micro-organisms invisible to the naked eye all make different contributions to the giant ecosystem in which they live. There are very delicate balances here. The rain forest exists together with all these species. The disappearance of a single species will damage several of these balances. 50

Indeed, such great harmony and interdependence exist among some species in the forest that one cannot survive in the absence of the other. Some 90% of the trees in the rain forest need animals to spread their seeds,51 while insect larvae, caterpillars, birds and other animals feed on the seeds of these trees. For example, species of fig tree and fig fly species are so interdependent that either cannot survive in isolation from the other. In the absence of fig flies, fig trees cannot fertilize themselves, and in the absence of fig trees, fig flies are deprived of their natural habitat. There is a different species of fig fly for every one of the more than 900 species of fig tree in tropical regions!52

Traits such as the fig fly's body and mouth structure and the flower's structure and reproductive organs, as well as the insect's flights and the times when the flowers open are in complete harmony. Accounting for this utter dependence between species has always been difficult for Darwinism. For this phenomenon, there is only one explanation: The harmony between plants and animals is a marvel of Creation. There is no chance of this system developing over time through small random changes and the mindless mechanisms of evolution.

Take, for example, the harmonious existence of the hawk moth Xanthopan morganii and one species of Madagascar orchid. To collect nectar, this moth extends its proboscis, some 30 to 35 centimeters (11 to 13 inches) in length, around 30 centimeters (11 inches) deep into the body of the orchid, and thus enables it to be fertilized.53 In order to reach and fertilize the ovary at this depth, the moth needs a proboscis of just such a length, In other words, the two species must be totally compatible with one another.

This represents a major dilemma for evolutionists, because it is impossible for these two different species to have undergone a parallel process of evolution, much less at the same time.

Let us assume that the ancestors of the Madagascar orchid and the Xanthopan morganii moth had had, respectively, much shorter nectary and a much shorter proboscis. (This is the assumption that must be made, according to the theory of evolution.) In that case, both species would have extended their parts simultaneously. The hawk moth and the orchid, would each have been exposed to mutations that simultaneously extended the length of their proboscis and nectary. Of course, such mutations would have had only advantageous effects on these two life forms (and beneficial mutations have never been observed). They would have to out-multiply other members of their species that had not undergone mutation, and this supposed process of natural selection would have to continue completely by chance, but without error, for millions of years.

To believe that is like believing that a lock and the key that opens it each came to be independently, but in a manner totally compatible with each other. Yet clearly, reason requires us to accept that two structures completely compatible with one another are both examples of simultaneous creation. To put it another way, reason requires us to accept that the orchid and the moth were created in harmony with each other.

Another example of the flawless harmony among tropical life forms can be seen in those regions known as flood forests, found along the shores of the Amazon and its tributaries. When the rain is heaviest, they are flooded, and during this period, a marvelous phenomenon takes place. Fish come to eat the fruits that fall into the water and distribute the seeds of those fruits of several species of tree.

Clearly, the variety of species in the rain forests are of great importance to the native peoples living there. But what importance can they have for the billions of humans who do not live in such regions? Scientists have provided the answer: The plants and animals in these tropical forests are of vital importance to every human on Earth. They are described as "the Earth's lungs" because of the way they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and give off oxygen. Rain forests play a major role in the circulation of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere, the global climate system, water circulation on Earth, and in many other natural balances. In addition, they represent a splendid source of new foods, products and medicines.

The magnificent variety of life in the rain forests is a major headache for Darwinism. The situation does not even permit evolutionists to offer any of their tall tales. Indeed, evolutionist researchers admit that they do not know the reason for the tropical rain forests' glorious biodiversity.54 Yet very evidently, God has created the single-celled organisms, plant and animal species in these forests, just as He has created all living things. If evolutionists wish to find a way out of the dead end they find themselves in, they must accept this fact.

To grasp just how irrational the evolutionist claim is, imagine a large factory that manufactures dozens of different products—a wide range of technological devices such as televisions and computers. Now, could these various products all have been invented by chance, with no conscious intervention? Could these devices, products of advanced technology, gradually form through the effects of such natural phenomena as the sunlight, wind, and lightning?

Such an event is of course impossible; both a factory and the devices it manufactures result from the design and planning by engineers and various other experts. Now consider the rain forests, home to tens of millions of different species, all with systems far more complex than those in any electronic devices available today. Such an environment, consisting of life forms that have lived together in harmony and co-operation for millions of years, could not come into being spontaneously, right down to the very finest detail, as evolutionists claim. The sublime intelligence here belongs to God, the Lord of the worlds.

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs come about gradually as dead corals, algae and crustaceans accumulate in different layers. They are found in tropical seas and can spread over rather large areas. In addition to their wealth of color and form, coral reefs harbor a variety of life, comparable to that in the rain forests. Many marine creatures, from planktons too small to be seen with the naked eye to sharks up to 6 meters (19 feet) long inhabit coral reefs.

Tens of thousands of widely different species live on coral reefs: Spotted, striped, brightly colored fish with striking patterns, fish that live in colonies, bright-hued corals, crustaceans with different appearances, eye-catching sea plants, sponges unique to coral reefs, mussels, oysters, sea urchins, crabs, starfish, micro-organisms, invertebrates...

At 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) long, Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest structure composed of living organisms. It plays host to 2,000 different species of fish, 350 species of coral, and 4,000 species of mollusks.55 But these are only the numbers of species identified to date. New species of animal and single-celled organisms are discovered every year.

According to Marjorie Reaka-Kudla, Professor of Zoology at Maryland University, the calculated number of described species on coral reefs is 93,000, and the estimated number should be about 600,000- 950,000 species.56

According to Marjorie Reaka Kudla, Professor of Zoology at Maryland University, the number of described species in the world’s coral reefs is 93,000, and the estimated number should be about 950,000. It is Almighty God Who creates every one of these life forms together with their perfect systems.

In the same way as rain forests, coral reefs are full of living things created in such a way as to complement one another and meet each other's needs. For example, coral polyps live shared or symbiotic lives with single-celled algae (zooxanthellae) inside their tissues and green algae on their outer surfaces. Coral polyps take some of the nutrients produced by algae through photosynthesis. Algae, on the other hand, obtain the nutrients they need from the coral polyps. At the same time, the polyps provide a safe place for the algae to live.

Coral reefs are generally found in waters classified as being poor in terms of nutrients.57 The question of how the reefs managed to grow in such waters has long been of great interest.58 According to the latest research, one reason for the wealth of species on the reefs is that these animals work together in harmony and co-operation. One study published in the 18 October, 2001 edition of Nature magazine, revealed the importance of the species of sponges, mussels and ringworms living in the cavities in the reefs. By filtering vegetable plankton, these organisms, most of which are very small, secrete substances such as ammonia and phosphate, needed by coral animals.59 In short, the system—consisting of thousands of small living species living in cavities in the reefs—serves like an enormous filtering station.

We obtain some real benefits from the micro-organisms, plants and animals in the ecosystem: Corals secrete the calcium they absorb from the sea in the form of calcium carbonate. Working like a sophisticated chemical laboratory, they play an important role in regulating carbon dioxide balances, in both the ocean and the atmosphere. The fish, mussels and other living organisms in the coral reefs represent food sources for hundreds of millions of people. Since coral reefs generally form close to the surface, they protect shorelines from the damaging effects of large waves, thus preventing erosion and reducing the harm done by storms. Thanks to coral reefs, the water between the shore and the reef is more tranquil in comparison to the open sea, constituting a habitat more suitable for fish and crustaceans.

Porcupine fish protect themselves by distending their stomachs like balloons and erecting the spines on their skin.

In addition, the wealth of genetic material from the wide variety of life on coral reefs is used in medical research and in the development of new drugs. Douglas Chadwick, a biologist and writer for National Geographic magazine, expresses some of these benefits we enjoy from the coral reefs:

Humanity's ties to the creatures living around coral reefs may multiply as medical research taps more of the organisms at home there. Some have already yielded compounds active against inflammations, asthma, heart disease, leukemia, tumors, bacterial and fungal infections, and viruses, including HIV. Studies found that chemicals used by sea slugs and certain sponges to repel fish also work on land as insecticides. Screening the venom of tropical cone snails for pharmaceutical properties turned up a possible nonaddictive substitute for morphine. Sea whips, related to true corals, offer a potential painkillers as well, while coral skeletons themselves are being investigated as substrate for bone grafts. 60

Each of the species living on coral reefs has been equipped with extraordinary systems and characteristics. For instance, some fish and other creatures have more color receptors than human beings, and therefore perceive colors better than we do.61 Most coral reef fish are able to change their colors to a certain extent, and some species can do so as quickly as a chameleon.62 The large-eyed sea bass and squirrel fish are able to hunt at night, or at depths where no daylight penetrates, thanks to their sensitive eyes. Puffer fish defend themselves by inflating their stomachs like a balloon and erecting their spines.63 Parrot fish camouflage themselves at night by covering themselves with a gelatinous sheath; they feed on algae by breaking off pieces of coral with their powerful, beak-like mouths.64 Scavenger fish and cleaner shrimp live off parasites on the fishes' skin. These, of course, are only a few of the perfect systems and flawless cooperations found among life forms on the reef.

Parrot fish camouflage themselves at night by encasing their entire bodies with a gelatinous substance.

Some reef-living fish species are able to camouflage themselves very well, thanks to their colors that closely match those of their surroundings. Species such as angel fish and butterfly fish possess very striking colors. Since they can easily be detected by predators, one would expect them to soon become extinct. But these fish survive despite their striking colors thanks to their own particular methods of defense. Evolutionists are unable to account for this state of affairs, which is the exact opposite of Darwinist expectations.

One evolutionist researcher studying this is the marine biologist Justin Marshall of Queensland University. In an article, "Why Are Reef Fish So Colorful?" in Scientific American magazine, Dr. Marshall describes this mystery "as tantalizing as it is beautiful."65

In fact, there is no mystery here at all, nor anything disappointing, only history being repeated. Darwin himself described as "trifling particulars of structure [that] often make me very uncomfortable. The sight of a feather in a peacock's tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!"66 These same difficulties are also faced by his followers. In short, the variety of life on the reefs, animals with incomparable features and the prefect harmony among species represents a nightmare for Darwinists. To wake up from that nightmare, they need to admit that God created the reef fish with their stunning colors and appearances.

People who keep marine aquariums as a hobby know how very difficult it is to feed tropical reef fish and corals. The main reason is the need to constantly replicate these creatures' reef habitats. In a marine aquarium, the salinity, temperature, pH level, light, oxygen level and chemical combinations in the water need to be kept in balance. Such corals and fish in are prone to be affected by even small changes in their aquarium environments. The organisms will die unless the ideal conditions are maintained and constantly regulated by technological equipment.

Now, bearing in mind the difficulty of running a marine aquarium containing just a few species of coral and fish: Could the tens of thousands of species living on the coral reefs have come into being spontaneously, or by chance? Could their striking colors, impressive hunting and defense systems, unique body structures, sense organs, systems and genetic information be the work of coincidence? Could the reef environment—in which the plants, animals, plankton and micro-organisms have lived in harmony and order for millions of years—have come about without a superior and conscious intervention?

Of course these events are impossible. Anyone able to reason can see their illogicality. Reef creatures with their amazing characteristics demonstrate the sublimity and glory of their Creation; they reveal the infinite artistry and omniscience of God, their Creator.

Deep-Sea Creatures

While walking along the seashore, you must have noticed seaweed and various sea plants.. These and some microscopic planktons produce their own nourishment by way of photosynthesis. This represents the first step in the marine food chain. However, sunlight cannot penetrate deeper than 100 meters (328 feet) in sea water, and the deepest ocean depth is 11,000 meters (36,090 feet) beneath the surface, with an average depth of 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). There is no possibility of photosynthesis taking place there, under conditions of high pressure per square inch, a low temperature in the region of 2 to -4 degrees Celsius (35 to 39 degrees Fahrenheit), and constant darkness. The only food sources consist of waste products and organic substances raining down from higher up. In short, the environment is completely different from what humans are familiar with. Despite all these inhospitable conditions, however, various fish and very different invertebrate creatures and micro-organisms still thrive in the ocean depths.

Temperature, pressure, the density of foodstuffs and light levels vary according to the further down from the surface one descends. Yet living things with structures and systems suited to their environment are found at all depths. Down there are fish, mussels, sea lilies, sponges, crustaceans, shrimps, crabs, arthropods, octopuses, ink fish, worms with spiny bodies, starfish, sea urchins, jellyfish, lobsters, single-celled organisms and organisms whose names can be encountered only in advanced biology texts and can be seen only in nature documentaries, all of them unique to the ocean depths.

Frederick Grassle and Nancy Maciolek, well-known American marine ecologists, say there may be 10 million species beneath the sea,67 and an astonishing wealth of species several thousand meters beneath the surface, in an environment previously believed to contain no life at all. Based on his research, Grassle, Director of the Rutgers University Marine and Coastal Research Institute, makes the following comment:

This sampling revealed that the deep-sea may, in fact, rival tropical rainforests in terms of the numbers of species present. Thus the deep sea may physically resemble a desert, but in terms of species composition, it is more like a tropical rainforest. 68

In one study 1,500-2,500-m depth range off New Jersey and Delaware, 30 cm x 30 cm samples of sea water contained 798 species in 171 families and 14 phyla.69 In another study performed off the coast of southern Australia, more than 800 species were determined in 10 square meters (11.96 square yards) of the sea floor.70

Yet a large part of the oceans have still not been the subject of scientific research. Much of the bottom of the world's oceans are still unexplored and unmapped.71 Therefore, every new investigation reveals some previously unknown species.

One biological phenomenon discovered at the beginning of the 21st century was that in the ocean floor's mud layer, certain bacteria and archaeobacteria consume methane, and thus perform an activity of vital importance to our lives. It is thought that these micro-organisms consume devour 300 million tons of methane every year, about as much as humans now inject into the atmosphere with agriculture, landfills, and burning of fossil fuels.72 Therefore, as stated in Science magazine of July 20, 2001, "These methane-eating microbes—once thought to be impossible—now look to be profoundly important to the planet's carbon cycle."73

Another striking fact is the flawless co-operation and order among the bacteria in question, revealed only with this century's technology: Thanks to archaeobacteria (which have a number of different structural features) bacteria can feed on methane in an oxygen-free environment, because the archaeobacteria in turn provide the oxygen that the bacteria need.

Research has demonstrated the astonishingly rich species diversity that exists several thousands of meters down in the oceans, where it was once believed that there was no life at all.

These creatures, too small to be seen with the naked eye, live thousands of meters down in the oceans in a layer of mud containing no oxygen, where they work non-stop. What would happen if these single-celled organisms disappeared? Their importance is crystal clear: Should these micro-organisms vanish, then large quantities of methane gas ion in the sea bed would enter the atmosphere. Global warning of mud due to the greenhouse effect would occur. The climatic balance would be damaged all over the world, and the Earth would become a planet too hot for us to live on.

In 2001, it was learned that certain species of bacteria live beneath the ocean bed, in the Earth's crust.74 These organisms' natural habitat lies up to 300 meters (985 feet) beneath the ocean floor, and thousands of meters under the surface. The activities they carry out are equally astonishing. These bacteria feed on rocks, and in doing so, perform another task of the greatest importance to all living things, making a major contribution to the flow of elements and chemical substances in the oceans.75 Note that these single-celled organisms do something, so important to life on Earth, that even the entire world's laboratories and scientists could not manage were they to join forces.

Another ecosystem on the ocean floor is found around hydrothermal vents,76 where superheated water containing various minerals emerges from cracks in the Earth's crust. More than 300 unique species have so far been discovered living in close proximity around these springs, which were discovered only in the past 20 years.77 This environment is home to large tube worms several meters in length and covered in bright red hairs, giant oysters, mussels, squid and invertebrates with all kinds of different appearances. Understandably, it has attracted great interest from researchers. In the search to answer how these creatures find food, astonishing facts have emerged.

Despite such adverse conditions as high pressure, low temperatures and scarce food resources, various animals, different-colored crustacean and micro-organisms thrive in the dark ocean depths.

The tube worm found in the ecosystem around these hydrothermal vents is very different from the other worms we are familiar with: It has no mouth or digestive system! It meets its nutritional needs thanks to the bacteria that live inside its tissues—a total of 285 billion bacteria per ounce of tissue.78 These bacteria perform chemosynthesis, transforming chemical substances that emerge from the springs into nutrients, which the worms use to live.

The bacteria at the bottom of the ocean are the first link in the food chain. Thanks to these micro-organisms, some invertebrates able to survive, and some animals, such as the squid, survive thanks to these invertebrates. The wealth of species and harmony among them, in an environment that until recently was thought to contain no life at all, is truly amazing.

Also, it was recently established that various species are living near the water leaks on the ocean floor, which are chemically rich but cold. Each new study and development indicates how little we know about the richness of the ocean bed.

Bear in mind that submarines used in deep-sea exploration were developed only in the last 70 years. The exploring submarines that dive down thousands of meters have been specially designed by experts from various fields. Similarly, each species that has lived for millions of years at the bottoms of the deepest oceans has also been created with a structure appropriate to its hostile environment. Moreover, the mechanisms in these creatures' cells are many times more complex than the systems in research submarines. Structures so complex cannot, as evolution claims, have come into being by chance. The variety of living things in the depths of the oceans, and their superior characteristics, belong to God, the Creator of all things.

Bacterial Ecology

When life is mentioned, plant and animal species generally come to mind. Some people even imagine that life consists solely of these. However, another living group which—despite being too small to be seen with the naked eye—constitutes 25% to 50% of all living species on the Earth: micro-organisms.79

Bacteria represent the most important portion of these micro-organisms. These may be spherical, rod-like or spiral in shape. Most are smaller than 0.001 millimeters (0.00003937 inch) in size, so small that hundreds of thousands could fit into the period at the end of this sentence.80

Every ecosystem and all living species depend, either directly or indirectly, on the activities of bacteria. (Their essential importance to the delicate balances of life on Earth will be described in later sections.) They can be found just about everywhere.81 Thousands of species of bacteria exist in ice caps, hydrothermal vents, environments with high levels of salinity or acid, amid chemical contaminants or pollutants, in the organs and tissues of animals and human beings, in the depths of the seas where there is little or no oxygen, and in the deep layers of the Earth.

For example, the intestines of a healthy human being are an ecosystem containing 400 different species of bacteria, organisms that play a very important role in the regular functioning of the intestines.82

When the genetic structures of bacteria—which look identical to one another even under the microscope—were examined, it was realized that these actually constituted very different species. As the Northwestern University microbiologist David Stahl expressed it, these bacteria can be as different from one another as a brown bear is from an oak tree.

Bacteria are part of a group that exhibits the greatest diversity among living things. but about which the least is known.83 Their diversity is far beyond the grasp of even 21st century technology. You could say that a gram of soil containing thousands of species of bacteria and billions of individuals resemble a rain forest at the microscopic level. In other words, an extraordinary diversity similar to a rain forest's can also be found in a handful of earth under the microscope.

To date, scientific studies aimed at determining bacteria and microbe species are very much fewer than actually needed. It is difficult to investigate these organisms for a number of reasons: Most species of bacteria cannot be raised in the laboratory or in cultures, even though a drop of sea water or tiny amount of soil contains billions of them. Even the unbelievable wealth of bacteria species has been realized only in recent years, with advances made in our knowledge of genetics.

When the genetic structures of microbes that appear very similar even under the microscope were examined, they were found to be actually very different species. In the words of the Northwestern University microbiologist David Stahl, two microbes can be "as different from each other as a grizzly bear from an oak tree."84

In his book In Search of Nature, Edward O. Wilson summarizes the latest developments regarding these micro-organisms:

The true black hole of systematics, however, may be bacteria. Although roughly 4,000 species have been formally described, recent studies in Norway have indicated the presence of from 4,000 to 5,000 species, almost all new to science, among the 10 billion individual organisms found on average in each gram of forest soil, and another 4,000 to 5,000 species, different from the first set and also mostly new, in an average gram of nearby marine sediments.85

Another expert on the subject, Rita Colwell, former President of the Maryland University Biotechnology Institute, gives the following figures regarding the wealth of bacteria on Earth:

"Although bacteria are tiny, they display biochemical, structural and behavioral complexities that outstrip scientific description. In keeping with the current microelectronics revolution, it may make more sense to equate their size with sophistication rather than with simplicity... Without bacteria, life on earth could not exist in its present form." (James Shapiro)

Only 3,000-4,000 species of bacteria have been described. It has been estimated that there may be as many as 300,000 species of bacteria, but more likely the number is closer to 3,000,000.86

Most of us think of bacteria as entities that merely cause disease. Yet this is not correct. Only a small fraction of bacteria species are agents of disease.87 As Andrew Pollack described in an article, bacteria play an essential role in the formation and continuity of life on Earth and in maintaining balances essential to life.88 This fact is set out by Professor James Shapiro from the Chicago University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology:

Although bacteria are tiny, they display biochemical, structural and behavioral complexities that outstrip scientific description. In keeping with the current microelectronics revolution, it may make more sense to equate their size with sophistication rather than with simplicity. . . . Without bacteria, life on earth could not exist in its present form.89

Although they multiply very rapidly and are so small and numerous, bacteria act in such ways as to permit not the slightest confusion. There is only one explanation: Every detail regarding bacteria, from the exceedingly complex activities they perform (such as the photosynthesis performed by cyanobacteria) to the numbers of their individuals and species, is as wished and determined by God, Who created them. God knows and plans where, when and in what numbers they need to be, and makes them a vehicle in the regulation of the balances on Earth and in forming environments suited to human life.