Microbes in climate change and recycling

摘要

Soil is a complex environment that supports the largest, most diverse and resilient microbial community on the planet, essential for nutrient cycling and plant growth. The expanding human population means that exploitation of land for agricultural and industrial use is increasing, raising concerns about long-term sustainability and impact on the major biogeochemical cycles. The earth has finite resources, and without soil microbe activity, many essential elements would not be available to plants. Likewise, without carbon and energy supplied by photosynthesis and detritus from animals (directly or indirectly sustained by plants), soil would consist mainly of inorganic mineral particles from weathering of rocks. Together, plant, animal and microbial activity provides the organic components that bind mineral particles into aggregates, give soil structure and make it fertile.