Download or read book Microbial Community Composition in Response to Soil Factors and Disturbance on Serpentine Soils written by Shira Hava Degrood and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Assessing Microbial Community Contribution to Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance written by Alexandria N. Igwe and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Root-associated (rhizosphere and rhizoplane) microbial communities influence plant phenotype, growth, and local abundance, yet the factors that structure these microbial communities are still poorly understood. California landscapes contain serpentine soils, which are nutrient-poor and high in heavy metals, and distinct from neighboring soils. Many plants are unable to grow in serpentine soils and some endemic species cannot compete on non-serpentine soils. Serpentine-indifferent plants, however, can do both. I utilize this class of plants and a serpentine ecosystem to disentangle the relative influences of plant species and soil type on rhizosphere microbial community composition. In Chapter 1, I characterized the microbial communities associated with the rhizoplane of serpentine-indifferent plants growing on serpentine at McLaughlin Natural Reserve. I supplemented that survey with a manipulative greenhouse experiment where I amended sterile serpentine soil with serpentine-adapted microorganisms, non-serpentine-adapted microorganisms, or a sterile control solution. I then measured seedling survival and plant growth. The results of this experiment showed that plant identity was more important than soil type for structuring rhizosphere microbial communities. Also, soil microbial community sources influenced seedling survival, but plant growth phenotypes were largely invariant to microbial communities with a few exceptions. The results from this experiment are published in Plant and Soil (Igwe, A.N. & Vannette, R.L. Plant Soil (2019) 441:423). In Chapter 2, I used 16S rRNA sequencing to determine how drought impacted the rhizosphere microbial community of several species of Streptanthus . Several species of Streptanthus were exposed to high, medium, and low watering treatments. Bacterial abundances were not significantly impacted by watering treatment. The bacterial communities of the lowest and highest watering treatment were significantly dissimilar. Results showed that alpha diversity decreased as watering levels decreased. Plant species and soil affinity did not impact alpha diversity. Several genera within Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, and Acidobacteria were differentially abundant between watering treatments. Microbial community dissimilarity was impacted by watering treatment and species, but not soil affinity. Watering treatment shifted the microbial communities such that less water created microbial communities that are more similar. Overall, this research serves to provide insight into the microbial communities shifts we could expect as a result of drought. In Chapter 3, I conducted a manipulative greenhouse experiment using Plantago erecta. I extracted DNA from rhizosphere microbial communities of P. erecta plants at distinct developmental stages: seedling, vegetative growth, early flowering, and late flowering. The plants were grown in serpentine or non-serpentine soil types with adapted or non-adapted microbes. Plant height and leaf number was measured weekly until harvesting and the plant developmental stage was noted. Afterwards, dry mass of above ground parts was collected, and roots were imaged using the WinRhizo system.16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and data analysis showed that alpha diversity was significantly lower in serpentine soil treatments and plant developmental stages. The variation observed in the rhizosphere microbial community was influenced by soil type, plant developmental stage, and the interaction between them both. Plants associated with serpentine microorganisms flowered sooner than those associated with non-serpentine microorganisms. In general, plants growing on serpentine soils were shorter, but leaf number was not impacted. Root length, root surface area, and root volume were all larger in nonserpentine soil treatments, but root diameter was not significantly different across soil types. These results are important for understanding how microbial communities shift to support plant survival on stressful soils.

Download or read book Response of Soil Microbial Communities to Physical and Chemical Disturbances written by Guilherme M. Chaer and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: General introduction; Land use impact on the stability of soil microbial community composition and enzyme activities to heat shock; Shifts in microbial community composition and physiological profiles across a gradient of induced soil degradation (GRIND); Development and validation of a soil quality index based on the equilibrium between soil organic matter and biochemical properties in an undisturbed forest ecosystem. The objectives of this thesis were to evaluate the responses of soil microbial communities to physical and chemical disturbances, and associate these responses with soil functional stability and changes in soil quality. The first study consisted of application of heat shocks (HS) to soils with contrasting land use history to evaluate differences in the stability of soil enzymes (laccase, cellulase and fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis) and microbial community composition as determined by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. The conversion of land use from forest to agriculture resulted in a new microbial community that was less functionally stable. Loss of stability was indicated by the reduced of laccase and cellulase activities in the agricultural soil, which suggested a less diverse community of microorganisms capable of producing these enzymes. The second study examined changes in microbial community composition and diversity that occurred across a gradient of soil disturbance. Disturbances were simulated by tillage events applied at different intensities to a 12-year-old fallow area. These treatments caused degradation of several soil physico-chemical properties, and alterations in microbial structure based on PLFA and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analyses, and in metabolic potential based on community level physiological profiles (CLPPs). Multivariate ordination of soil properties revealed the formation of a linear gradient of soil degradation that was significantly correlated with CLPPs, but not with T-RFLP and PLFA profiles. Nevertheless, changes observed in microbial community structure were significantly associated with decreases in soil organic C and field hydraulic conductivity. The third study demonstrated that undisturbed forest soils from western Oregon express an equilibrium between soil organic matter and biochemical properties. A model fitted through multiple regression analysis showed that phosphatase activity and microbial biomass were able to explain 97% of the soil organic C in these soils. This equilibrium was disrupted when a soil from an old-growth site was submitted to chemical stresses (Cu addition or pH alteration) and physical disturbances (wet-dry or freeze-thaw cycles). The magnitude of this disruption was consistently expressed by the ratio between soil C predicted by the model (Cp), and soil C that was measured (Cm). This ratio is proposed as biochemically-based index of soil quality.

Download or read book Recovery of Soil Microbial Communities After Disturbance written by Sadikshya Rana Dangi and published by ProQuest. This book was released on 2008 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil microbial communities were examined in two chronosequences of reclaimed surface mine soil and in a chronosequence of previously burned sites to determine how these communities recover through time after disturbance. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) methods for microbial community analysis were used to quantify microbial biomass, diversity, and abundance of specific microbial groups (gram positive bacteria, gram negative bacteria, fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and actinomycetes). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were used to compare soil microbial communities and site environmental factors. The soil microbial community in sagebrush-grassland ecosystems disturbed by fire appeared to recover to similar levels of biomass and diversity as in unburned soil within 3 to 7 years. In the surface mine reclamation sites, microbial recovery was seen in 5 to 10 years after reclamation in sites dominated by sagebrush and within 14 years after reclamation in the sites dominated by cool season grasses. Plant community composition was found to have influences in soil microbial recovery. Microbial communities in soil under crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) recovered to greater biomass than did the communities associated with other plant species. Soil fungi appeared to be the most adversely affected by soil disturbance associated with surface mining than the other microbial groups examined, and they were also slow to recover after the initiation of reclamation. A general trend of recovery towards the undisturbed condition with reclamation age was found for all microbial groups after disturbance. Our data on microbial community recovery from fire and impacts of surface mining suggests that soil microbial communities are highly resilient to disturbances.

Download or read book Soil Microbial Responses to Disturbance Events and Consequences for Carbon Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems written by Sandra Robin Holden and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the response of soil microbial communities and decomposition to global environmental changes is central to our ability to accurately forecast future terrestrial carbon (C) storage and atmospheric CO2 levels. Increases in the frequency and severity of disturbance events are one element of global change in terrestrial ecosystems. The goal of this dissertation was to measure the response of soil microbial communities and decomposition to disturbance events and to examine the mechanisms underlying post-disturbance changes in decomposition. In the first part of my dissertation work I explored these questions within the context of wildfires in boreal forests. Chapter 1 characterized soil microbial communities and the rate of decomposition across a fire chronosequence in interior Alaska. I found that boreal forest fires reduced soil microbial abundance, altered fungal community composition, and suppressed litter decomposition. Chapter 2 investigated whether soil microbial responses to boreal forest fires differ as a function of fire severity. I demonstrated that higher severity fires elicited greater reductions in soil microbial biomass and larger shifts in fungal community composition than lower severity fires. Chapter 3 tested the mechanisms through which boreal forest fires alter decomposition processes. I discovered that decomposition rates were slower in recently burned forests because of post-fire reductions in soil moisture and C substrate quality. In the second part of my dissertation I expanded my findings to other types of disturbance events using meta-analysis. Chapter 4 reviewed the response of soil microbial biomass to fires. I found that soil microbial biomass was significantly lower in recently burned ecosystems, but the response of microbial biomass to fire differed by fire type and biome. Chapter 5 examined soil microbial responses to abiotic (fire, harvesting, storms) and biotic (insect infestation, pathogen outbreaks) disturbances in forests. I observed that abiotic disturbances significantly reduced soil microbial biomass, while changes in microbial biomass were non-significant following biotic disturbance events. Collectively, these findings suggest that reductions in soil microbial biomass and decomposition rates following abiotic disturbances are likely to slow the transfer of C from soils to the atmosphere and provide a negative feedback to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global change.

Download or read book Microbial Community Composition on Disturbed Soils Within the Lake Tahoe Basin written by Anne Brae Colling and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The relationship between microbial community composition and soil stability was determined using rainfall simulation and microbial lipid analysis. Study sites were located on road cuts and ski runs, and were from either granitic or volcanic parent material. Phospholipid fatty acid analysis was performed on soil samples from all treatment plots to determine total microbial biomass and the relative abundance of the following microbial groups and biomarkers: gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and stress indicator biomarkers. The influence of treatment on microbial groups was determined, and microbial groups were related to the occurrence of runoff and rainfall parameters. This study shows that two important factors contributing to improved soil infiltration include: increasing total microbial biomass on all sites, and utilizing amendments that select for fungi on severely degraded soils. These relationships can guide experimental work to further evaluate how microbes interact with substrate type and other soil treatments to improve infiltration.--adapted from abstract.

Download or read book Links Between Soil Microbial Communities and Transformations of Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Along a Gradient in Land use History and Soil Disturbance written by Kerri Loraine Steenwerth and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Role of Microbial Dispersal in Overcoming Factors that Constrain Soil Respiration Response to Climate Change written by Gabriel Dante Miller and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The largest remaining uncertainty in the terrestrial carbon cycle is whether soil will become a carbon source or sink in future decades. Better ecological understanding of the soil microbial communities that regulate soil respiration and carbon decomposition can improve parameterization of global carbon models. Here we investigate whether climatic legacy effects, which can constrain microbial function in the face of environmental change, can be overcome by effective dispersal. To address this gap in knowledge, we performed a lab microcosm experiment using 15 combinations of soil communities to mimic potential dispersal outcomes and maintained these under wet or dry conditions. Soils were taken from three sites at the drier western and three sites at the wetter eastern ends of a precipitation gradient in central Texas with a similar geomorphic profile and known legacies dependent on historical rainfall. Soil origin treatment was created from two western sites, two eastern sites, or a mixture of one western and one eastern site. Dispersal treatment was based on the amount of each soil origin in the mixtures (0:100, 15:85, 50:50, 85:15, 100:0). The mixtures were created by adding live soil inoculum (2.5 g) to autoclaved background soil (22.5 g) comprised of a mixture of soils from all six sites. We assessed whether changes in soil respiration were due to moisture regime or dispersal treatments over 12 weeks. Contemporary soil moisture was the primary driver of respiration, with 878% more respiration in wet vs. dry treatments. Soils that were evenly mixed western communities differed from the other soil dispersal treatments, likely because of intrinsic functional limitations or increased biotic interactions. Legacy effects were substantially weaker here compared to other studies in the same system. We speculated that the resources provided by autoclaved background soils might have disrupted the historical contingency of soil moisture in this system. Community composition data must be used to resolve whether the lack of functional differences were due to microbial communities sharing similar taxa or physiological plasticity between differing communities.

Download or read book Environmental Impacts of Soil Component Interactions written by P. M. Huang and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1995-03-29 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: V. 1 - Natural and anthropogenic organics; v. 2 - Metals, other inorganics, and microbial activities. General soil quality as influenced by interactions of soil minerals with organics and microorganisms: Organic-inorganic interections in soils and their effects on soil quality; Sorption phenomena between inorganic and organic compounds in soils: impacts on transformation processes; Role of aluminium and iron in the accumulation of organic matter in soils with variable charge; Sorption of ions by soil organic matter and clay-organics at low ionic strength; Water potential, soil microhabitats, and microbial development; Effect of citric acid on interlayer adsorption of hydroxy-aluminosilicate ions by montmorillonite; Microbial oxidation of pyrites in relation to its efficiency in alkali soil reclamation; Modification of gelation properties of colloidal solids from oil sands: extraction impact on fine tailings formation; Position paper of part I; Transformations of natural and anthropogenic organic compounds as affected by soil minerals and microorganisms: Natural organics; Recent advances in organomineral interactions: implications for carbon cycling and soil structure; The role of short-range ordered mineral colloids in abiotic transformations of organics components in the environment; Influence of pyrogallol on the catalytic action of iron and managenese oxides in amino acid transformation; Photochemical effect on the abiotic transformations of polyphenolics as catalyzed by Mn(IV) oxide; Potential of the supercitical fluid extraction technique for characterizing organic-inorganic interactions in soils; Dissolution and fractionation of calcium-bound and iron-and aluminium-bound humus in soils; Rhe quality of soil organic matter as characterized by soil CPMAS C-NMR, and Py-FIMS; Extracellular polysaccharides: an interface between microorganisms and soil constituents; Low-molecular-weigh aliphatic carboxylic acids in some andisols of Japan; Relationship between organic acids and microorganisms on a kong-term cropping site in southeastern Australia; Effect of the addition of plant residues on the mineralization of sulfur in Costa Rican soils; Anthropogenic organics: Sorption and biodegradation of organic contaminants in soils: conceptual representations of process coupling; The role of dissolved metals and metal-containing surfaces in catalyzing the hydrolysis of organic pollutants; The role of abiotic and biotic catalysts in the transformation of phenolic compounds; The role of abiotic interections with humic substances on the environmental impact of organic pollutants; Adsorption mechanisms and abiotic catalytic transformations of some agrochemicals by clay minerals; Interactions between manganese oxides and multiple ringed aromatic compounds; Mobility and persistence of metolachlor and terbuthylazine in field lysimeters; Soil-pesticide interactions and their impact on the volatilization process; Factors affecting the movements, reactions, and biotransformations ox xenobiotics; Effect of soil minerals on the microbial formation of enzymes and their possible use in remediation of chemically polluted sites; Position paper of part II; Effect of microorganisms on mobility of heavy metals in soils; Interactions of copper with soil humic substances; Adsorption of phosphate on variable charge minerals: competitive effect of organic ligands; Cadmium adsorption on the hydroxyaluminum-montmorillonite complex as influencend by oxalate; Influence of citrate on selenite sorption-desorption on short-range ordered aluminum hydroxides; Role of amorphous fe oxides in controlling retention of heavy metal elements in soils; Effect of natural organic matter and pH on the bioavailability of metal ions in soils; Seasonal changes of organic matter, pH, nitrogen and some metals in forest topsoils in Austria: a case study of two soils with and whithout a litter layer; Substituion of rock phosphate and legumes for commercial fertilizers; Effect of single and combined inoculation with azotobacter and VA mycorrhizal fungi on growth and mineral nutrient contents of maize and wheat plants; Position paper of part I; Interactions of clays with microorganisms and bacterial survival in soil: a physicochemical perspective; Enumeration, survival, and beneficial activities of microorganisms introduced into soil; Effects of clay minerals, oxyhydroxides, and humic matter on microbial communities of soil, sediment, and water; Activity, stability, and kinetc properties of enzymes immobilized on clay minerals and organomineral complexes; Influence of site conditions and heavy metals on enzyme activities of forest topsoils; Aluminum toxicity: a major stress for microbes in the environment; Biological response to contamination with pentachlorophenol and mercuric chloride in a high organic matter soil; Ecology of 2,4-D degradation in three palouse silt loam soils.

Download or read book Environmental Factors Shaping the Soil Microbiome written by and published by . This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Disturbance Ecology of Soil Microbial Communities in Response to the Centralia Pa Coal Fire written by Jackson Winther Sorensen and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Microbial communities are ubiquitous in our world and play important roles in biogeochemical and ecosystems processes on Earth. The ability of these microbial communities to provide these different processes is frequently tied to their community structure, which can be thought of both in terms of membership (i.e. who is there) and the relative abundance of these members. Changes in environmental conditions often lead to changes in microbial community structure as well. Microbial communities are formed through the process of assembly, which in turn is driven by the four processes of 1) Selection 2) Dispersal 3) Drift and 4) Diversification. Understanding the relative importance of each of these processes in different systems is important for predicting how microbial communities will change in response to disturbances. This dissertation presents work that uses the coal fire in Centralia, PA as a model press disturbance for understanding soil microbial community responses to and recovery from disturbance. The experiments herein aim to shed light the relative roles of Selection, Dispersal, and Drift in governing these responses in soil microbial communities experience a temperature disturbance. An observation study of a chronosequence of fire disturbance in Centralia, PA is used to generate hypotheses as to the relative roles of Selection, Dispersal, and Drift in the assembly of soil microbial communities experiencing a temperature disturbance. Further, an in depth look at some of these communities using shotgun metagenomics is used to observe specific microbial traits and characteristics selected for by the temperature disturbance. Finally, a laboratory soil mesocosm warming experiment investigates the relative influence of Dispersal and dormancy in governing responses to and recovery from disturbance.

Download or read book Plant Invasion and the Soil Microbial Community written by Katharine Margaret Batten and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Impact of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Soil Microbial Community Composition and Activity written by Corianne Tatariw and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Serpentine written by Susan Harrison and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-02-02 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Serpentine soils have long fascinated biologists for the specialized floras they support and the challenges they pose to plant survival and growth. This volume focuses on what scientists have learned about major questions in earth history, evolution, ecology, conservation, and restoration from the study of serpentine areas, especially in California. Results from molecular studies offer insight into evolutionary patterns, while new ecological research examines both species and communities. Serpentine highlights research whose breadth provides context and fresh insights into the evolution and ecology of stressful environments.

Download or read book Ecological Dynamics in Compost Amended Soils and the Resulting Effects on Escherichia Coli Survival written by Anya Jaffe Cutler and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Escherichia coli (E. coli) are common and typically innocuous copiotrophic bacteria found in the mammalian gut microbiome. However, over the past 30 years, pathogenic E. coli have been responsible for several outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to contaminated produce. The introduction of Escherichia coli to an agricultural soil, via contaminated water, compost, or raw manure, exposes the bacterium to a medley of ecological forces not found in a mammalian gut environment. This study assesses a variety of abiotic and biotic soil factors that influence the ability of an "invasive" copiotrophic coliform bacterium to survive in compost-amended agricultural soil. The study included both field and laboratory components. In the lab experiment, a cocktail of rifampicin-resistant generic E.coli strains was added to sterile and non-sterile extracts of eight different composts and one soil sample from the field sites. E. coli abundance was monitored over a one-week period and composts were analyzed for their nutrient profile. In the field experiment, the same E. coli cocktail was sprayed on plots with the following treatments: 1) dairy windrow compost, 2) dairy vermicompost, 3) poultry windrow compost, or 4) no compost. E. coli abundance, soil water potential, soil temperature, extracellular enzyme activity, microbial respiration, phospholipid fatty acid biomarker abundance, and genetic sequencing of the microbial community were measured over a six-month field season. The lab experiment showed that E. coli were able to grow well in sterile compost extracts, without microbial competition for nutrients. Conversely, E. coli populations were only able to survive in non-sterile soil extracts. These results suggest that copiotrophic organisms adapted for high-nutrient environments may depend on the extracellular enzyme activity of native oligotrophic organisms to acquire sufficient nutrients to survive in soils. Results of the field experiment showed clear and interdependent effects of soil moisture and nutrient availability on microbial community dynamics and E. coli survival. Data suggest that saturated soils cause a decrease in microbial extracellular enzyme activity, and drying-rewetting cycles can cause respiration bursts, nutrient mineralization, and shifts in community composition. The saturation of soils, which mobilizes nutrients and may result in a decrease in competition from aerobic organisms, correlated directly with increased survival of E. coli. Additionally, amendment with ammonium-rich poultry compost resulted in the maintenance of high levels of E. coli throughout the field season. Despite an increase in microbial biomass from dairy vermicompost amendment, poultry compost was the only compost that had a significant effect on E. coli survival. The results suggest that nitrogen availability and water potential are strong drivers of E. coli's survival in soils. Correlations among abiotic factors, community composition, and E. coli survival reveal insights into the complex relationships that occur in disturbed agricultural soil environments. Further research on E. coli's response to targeted organisms, abiotic soil properties, and nutrient inputs could have implications for agricultural considerations in food safety and microbial ecology.

Download or read book Root Zone Microbial Communities and Restoration of Plant Communities in Owens Valley California Phase 1 written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future quality and quantity of water for Los Angeles, CA, depends on effective environmental management of both water and land use in Owens Valley. Long-term environmental monitoring will be used to assess progress towards attaining sustainable restoration goals. Re-establishment of native plant communities on previously cultivated lands is a major land management goal. Establishment of desired plant communities may, in turn, depend on relationships between soil microorganisms and plants. These interrelationships depend on soil characteristics affecting the microbial communities. This study was designed to provide survey information on microbial communities in soils from native and disturbed areas at ten locations spanning Owens Valley. At each location, five surface soil samples were collected along a 150-m transect through native vegetation, and ten soil samples were collected along a 300-m transect through disturbed areas. Soils were characterized by soil texture, total carbon, total nitrogen, organic carbon, organic nitrogen, leachable carbon, leachable nitrogen, carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios, microbial community biomass, and lipid profiles of soil microbial community compositions. Analysis of variance, Tukey's test for comparing multiple means, hierarchical cluster analysis, and principal component analysis were used to show differences in soil characteristics. While native and disturbed soil samples were shown to differ in many characteristics, the largest and most frequently shown differences were related to the soil microbial communities. Total soil microbial biomass was significantly and consistently higher in native soils than soils from disturbed areas. In conclusion, soils supporting native plant communities were most different from those in disturbed areas in characteristics related to soil microbiology.

Download or read book Community Interactions and Water as Drivers of Soil Microbial Communities written by Madhavi Latha Kakumanu and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the response of soil microbial communities to various environmental stresses is of current interest, because of their pivotal role in nutrient cycling, soil organic matter mineralization and influence on plant growth. Determining the affect of several biotic and abiotic factors on soil microbial communities is the overall objective of the study. The specific goals are to determine 1) the response of microbial communities to water deficit in soil and 2) how the presence of a rich biotic community determines the direction of microbial community development in cultures. Both goals are novel and unique contributions to understanding microbial ecology in soil. Dynamics in water potentials due to drying and rewetting of soil impose significant physiological challenges to soil microorganisms. To cope with these fluctuations, many microorganisms alter the chemistry and concentration of their cytoplasmic contents. The aim of this research is to understand how the microbial biomass and their cytoplasm change in response to water potential deficits under in situ soil conditions. To address this objective we characterized intracellular and extracellular metabolites in moist, dry and salt stressed soils. Our results provided the first direct evidence that microbial communities in soil in situ utilize sugars and sugar alcohols to cope with low water potential. While the cultivation and isolation of microorganisms is essential to completely explore their physiology and ecology, 99% of soil microbes resist growing in cultures. Presence of very unnatural conditions in the culture plates was considered as main reason for low cultivability. Thus, a culture-based study was conducted whereby microorganisms were grown in association with their native habitat with an objective of mimicking native conditions to promote the growth of previously uncultivated microorganisms. Moreover, the importance of biotic communities (microbe-microbe) and abiotic soil effects were assessed on bacterial growth. Our results strongly indicate that the presence of living microbial community in the vicinity of the target culture resulted in the cultivation of novel members of rare bacterial taxa from phyla Verrucomicrobia, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Planctomycetes. These results emphasize the need to develop new culturing methods to tap the hidden microbial potential for emerging anthropogenic needs.