A study published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals that soil microbes that thrive in the deserts and rainforests around the world can also be found beneath New York City’s Central Park.

According to Tech Times, researchers of the study analyzed soil samples from 500 separate subsurface locations around the 843-acre Central Park area, and the results were astonishing. The team uncovered 167,000 kinds of microbes living in the soil, a majority of which had never been previously documented.

“We found thousands of different organisms, and it was shocking how few had ever been described,” said co-author Noah Fierer, of the University of Colorado Boulder, in a recent statement. “Not only do they not have a name, but we don’t know anything about them. We don’t know what sort of conditions they like to live under or what role they may play in soil habitat and soil fertility.”

These results suggest that even systems as urban as those found in New York City can house large amounts of unknown soil biodiversity. “The soil microbes in Central Park benefit us, benefit soil health, and are linked tightly to the beauty of the trees and other plants we see,” said co-author Diana Wall of Colorado State University’s Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Lab. “The nation’s food, cities, clean air and water and economy are all dependent on healthy, fertile soils and that motivates us to understand this fascinating hidden life beneath our feet.”

According to the statement, the scientists also compared Central Park’s biodiversity to 52 soil samples from across the world. They found that the biodiversity in Central Park is quite similar to that found globally, from the “frozen Arctic tundra to hot deserts and nearly everything in between.”

“If you want to find unique diversity and if you want to find a wide range of different below-ground organisms, you don’t have to travel around the world,” said Fierer. “You can walk across Central Park.”