Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Arid Terrestrial Systems written by Thulani P. Makhalanyane and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2016-09-14 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water is usually referred to as the ‘Molecule of Life’. It constitutes the most abundant molecule in living (micro)organisms and is also essential for critical biochemical reactions, both for the global functioning and maintenance of Ecosystems (e.g., Photosynthesis) and individual (microbial) cells (e.g., ATP hydrolysis). However, most of Earth’s terrestrial environments present deficiencies in bioavailable water. Arid environments cover around a third of the land’s surface, are found on the six continents and, with the anthropogenic desertification phenomenon, will increase. Commonly defined by having a ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration (P/PET) below 1, arid environments, being either hot or cold, are characterized by scant and erratic plant growth and low densities in macro-fauna. Consequently, these ecosystems are microbially mediated with microbial communities particularly driving the essential Na and C biogeochemical cycles. Due to the relatively simple trophic structure of these biomes, arid terrestrial environments have subsequently been used as ideal ecosystems to capture and model interactions in edaphic microbial communities. To date, we have been able to demonstrate that edaphic microorganisms (i.e., Fungi, Bacteria, Archaea, and Viruses) in arid environments are abundant, highly diverse, different from those of other terrestrial systems (both in terms of diversity and function), and are important for the stability and productivity of these ecosystems. Moreover, arid terrestrial systems are generally considered Mars-like environments. Thus, they have been the favored destination for astro(micro)biologists aiming to better understand life’s potential distribution and adaptation strategies in the Universe and develop terraforming approaches. Altogether, these points demonstrate the importance of significantly improving our knowledge in the microbial community composition (particularly for Fungi, Archaea and Viruses), assembly processes and functional potentials of arid terrestrial systems, as well as their adaptation mechanisms to aridity (and generally to various other environmental stresses). This Research Topic was proposed to provide further insights on the microbial ecology of hot and cold arid edaphic systems. We provide a detailed review and nine research articles, spanning hot and cold deserts, edaphic, rhizospheric, BSC and endolithic environments as well as culture-dependent and -independant approaches.
Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Arid Terrestrial Systems written by and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water is usually referred to as the 'Molecule of Life'. It constitutes the most abundant molecule in living (micro)organisms and is also essential for critical biochemical reactions, both for the global functioning and maintenance of Ecosystems (e.g., Photosynthesis) and individual (microbial) cells (e.g., ATP hydrolysis). However, most of Earth's terrestrial environments present deficiencies in bioavailable water. Arid environments cover around a third of the land's surface, are found on the six continents and, with the anthropogenic desertification phenomenon, will increase. Commonly defined by having a ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration (P/PET) below 1, arid environments, being either hot or cold, are characterized by scant and erratic plant growth and low densities in macro-fauna. Consequently, these ecosystems are microbially mediated with microbial communities particularly driving the essential Na and C biogeochemical cycles. Due to the relatively simple trophic structure of these biomes, arid terrestrial environments have subsequently been used as ideal ecosystems to capture and model interactions in edaphic microbial communities. To date, we have been able to demonstrate that edaphic microorganisms (i.e., Fungi, Bacteria, Archaea, and Viruses) in arid environments are abundant, highly diverse, different from those of other terrestrial systems (both in terms of diversity and function), and are important for the stability and productivity of these ecosystems. Moreover, arid terrestrial systems are generally considered Mars-like environments. Thus, they have been the favored destination for astro(micro)biologists aiming to better understand life's potential distribution and adaptation strategies in the Universe and develop terraforming approaches. Altogether, these points demonstrate the importance of significantly improving our knowledge in the microbial community composition (particularly for Fungi, Archaea and Viruses), assembly processes and functional potentials of arid terrestrial systems, as well as their adaptation mechanisms to aridity (and generally to various other environmental stresses). This Research Topic was proposed to provide further insights on the microbial ecology of hot and cold arid edaphic systems. We provide a detailed review and nine research articles, spanning hot and cold deserts, edaphic, rhizospheric, BSC and endolithic environments as well as culture-dependent and -independant approaches.
Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Arid Environments written by 夏江瀛 and published by . This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation, "Microbial Ecology of Arid Environments" by 夏江瀛, Kong-ying, Ha, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Deserts comprise the largest terrestrial biome, making up approximately one third of the Earth's land mass. They are defined in terms of moisture deficit using the Aridity Index with values 18C), cold (A literature review was conducted to appreciate the status of existing knowledge on these systems. Amongst unresolved questions that arose were the following, which form the basis of this inquiry: What are the taxonomic and functional differences between hypolithic and near-soil communities? Do hypolithic communities assemble differently in deserts of different xeric and thermal stresses? Can the keystone cyanobacterial taxa be cultivated under laboratory conditions to allow manipulative studies? The Mojave Desert in the USA was used as a model to test the extent to which hypolithic and near-surface soil communities vary in both taxonomic and putative functional composition. A common phylogenetic marker (16S rRNA gene ITS region) was used to conclude that soil and hypolithic communities are significantly different, although both were dominated by cyanobacteria. The ubiquitous hypolithic cyanobacterial taxon Chroococcidiopsis was encountered, although communities appeared to be dominated functionally by the diazotrophic genus Nostoc. The data strongly suggest that carbon and nitrogen fixation pathways in desert soils are mediated by the same taxa, although heterotrophic pathways may differ and support distinct assemblages of heterotrophic bacteria. An opportunistic sampling of three sites along a latitudinal gradient in China allowed some inference about adaptations in hypoliths. Communities recovered from the cold Tibetan Desert, Taklamakan Basin Desert, and exposed hillsides in tropical Hong Kong, did not display significant differences at the level of community assembly. This suggests that hypolithic taxa undergo strong selection for xeric and extreme thermal stresses. A cultivation strategy for the keystone taxon Chroococcidiopsis has been lacking and is an obvious impediment to manipulative physiological studies. Here various methods for laboratory cultivation were attempted. This bacterium proved extremely fastidious and displayed slow growth rates. After extensive trials a novel cultivation method was developed. This involved using plastic petri dishes containing liquid growth medium, into which glass coverslips were introduced along with cell suspensions. The surface energy of glass served as a nucleation site for Chroococcidiopsis biofilms (which do not develop on plastic surfaces) and this method was evaluated in growth studies as a means of quantifying growth. This research includes key advances to demonstrate that hypoliths and soil, whilst supporting different communities, likely perform similar functional roles in the desert soil. Selection due to the severe environmental stresses results in similar communities across large latitudinal and environmental gradients. The development of a cultivation strategy paves the way for manipulative physiological studies on these important organisms.
Download or read book Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms of Arid Region written by Ritu Mawar and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-03-01 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited book aims to focus on microbial diversity in arid lands and deserts versus specific microbial assemblages associated with plants. The book explains ecological drivers that shape this diversity, how plant-associated microbiomes are selected, and their biotechnological potential are discussed. Diversity and functional redundancy of these associated PGPM make them very active in supporting plant improvement, health and resistance to drought, salt and other stresses, and these dimensions will be explored in this book. Implementing proper biotechnological applications of the arid and desert-adapted PGPM constitutes a sizeable challenge, and the book attempts to take up that challenge and help researchers in this field to gain a detailed understanding of PGPM from arid ecosystems. This book serves as a handbook for research workers, teachers, postgraduate students and extension personnel, other development workers, and policy planners engaged in arid zone development.
Download or read book The Biology of Arid Soils written by Blaire Steven and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2017-07-24 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soils have been called the most complex microbial ecosystems on Earth. A single gram of soil can harbor millions of microbial cells and thousands of species. However, certain soil environments, such as those experiencing dramatic change exposing new initial soils or that are limited in precipitation, limit the number of species able to survive in these systems. In this respect, these environments offer unparalleled opportunities to uncover the factors that control the development and maintenance of complex microbial ecosystems. This book collects chapters that discuss the abiotic factors that structure arid and initial soil communities as well as the diversity and structure of the biological communities in these soils from viruses to plants.
Download or read book Shrub Steppe written by Alec Rickard and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Owing to man-made intervention, the shrub-steppe now represents a rapidly disappearing landscape in the arid regions of North America. This book represents a systems-level study of ecological variables affecting water balance, and responses to perturbation. The study focused on a very large, protected, landscape unit, comprising a natural ``watershed'' area located in the semi-arid western United States. Long-term and concurrent data sets were established with a view towards establishing system-level responses to manipulative interventions, and natural perturbations like wildfire. These data sets were established for micrometeorology, climatology, mineral cycling in soils, nutrient and mineral pathways in springs and streams, vegetational dynamics, and population changes on the site. In synthesizing nearly twenty years of data, the more interesting ecosystem level responses concerned vegetational recovery and water balance. For instance, the synthesis uniquely demonstrates the interaction of biotic and non-biotic factors and their integrated effect on regional water balance. However, special attention was also paid to species diversity and the genetic resource pool represented at this site.This book will be of primary interest as a reference resource to land managers and wildlife specialists, and as a research study for scientists interested in systems-level ecology. Conservation-minded citizens who take more than a cursory interest in ecology will also find it interesting.
Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Arid Environments written by Kong-ying Ha and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dryland Ecohydrology written by Paolo D'Odorico and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-01-09 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecohydrology emerges as a new field of research aiming at furthering our understanding of the earth system through the study of the interactions between the water cycle and vegetation. By combining the analysis of biotic and abiotic components of terrestrial ecosystems, this volume provides a synthesis of material on arid and semiarid landscapes, which is currently spread in a number of books and journal articles. The focus on water-limited ecosystems is motivated by their high sensitivity to daily, seasonal, and decadal perturbations in water availability, and by the ecologic, climatic, and economic significance of most of the drylands around the world. Conceived as a tool for scientists working in the area of the earth and environmental sciences, this book presents the basic principles of eco-hydrology as well as a broad spectrum of topics and advances in this research field. The chapters collected in this book have been contributed by authors with different expertise, who work in several arid areas around the World. They describe the various interactions among the biological and physical dynamics in dryland ecosystems, starting from basic processes in the soil-vegetation-climate system, to landscape-scale hydrologic and geomorphic processes, ecohydrologic controls on soil nutrient dynamics, and multiscale analyses of disturbances and patterns.
Download or read book Shrub steppe written by Pacific Northwest Laboratory and published by Elsevier Publishing Company. This book was released on 1988 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Owing to man-made intervention, the shrub-steppe now represents a rapidly disappearing landscape in the arid regions of North America. This book represents a systems-level study of ecological variables affecting water balance, and responses to perturbation. The study focused on a very large, protected, landscape unit, comprising a natural watershed'' area located in the semi-arid western United States. Long-term and concurrent data sets were established with a view towards establishing system-level responses to manipulative interventions, and natural perturbations like wildfire. These data sets were established for micrometeorology, climatology, mineral cycling in soils, nutrient and mineral pathways in springs and streams, vegetational dynamics, and population changes on the site. In synthesizing nearly twenty years of data, the more interesting ecosystem level responses concerned vegetational recovery and water balance. For instance, the synthesis uniquely demonstrates the interaction of biotic and non-biotic factors and their integrated effect on regional water balance.
Download or read book Understanding Terrestrial Microbial Communities written by Christon J. Hurst and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-03-27 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a summary of terrestrial microbial processes, which are a key factor in supporting healthy life on our planet. The authors explain how microorganisms maintain the soil ecosystem through recycling carbon and nitrogen and then provide insights into how soil microbiology processes integrate into ecosystem science, helping to achieve successful bioremediation as well as safe and effective operation of landfills, and enabling the design of composting processes that reduce the amount of waste that is placed in landfills. The book also explores the effect of human land use, including restoration on soil microbial communities and the response of wetland microbial communities to anthropogenic pollutants. Lastly it discusses the role of fungi in causing damaging, and often lethal, infectious diseases in plants and animals.
Download or read book Deep Soil Microbial Ecology written by Katherine Naasko and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deep soil health is important to dryland cropping systems in arid and semi-arid areas. For example, in Washington State and the larger inland Pacific Northwest, winter and perennial wheat cropping systems and associated microbiomes rely on water, soluble nutrients, and translocated resources that can accumulate in deep soil horizons. However, deep soil microbial ecology in these systems is not well understood. To investigate relationships between the soil microbial community and soil chemistry, we sampled deep soil cores from: the Palouse soil series (0-85 cm soil depth) from long-term dryland winter wheat and perennial wheatgrass sites in the Palouse River Watershed (Chapters 2 and 3); and the Warden soil series (0-100 cm) from an irrigated perennial wheatgrass site in the Columbia Basin (Chapter 4). In both soils, deep horizons had higher soil pH, exchangeable calcium and magnesium concentrations, and lipid saturation compared to surface soils. In the Palouse soil series, deep horizons had highest relative abundance (%) of Gram(+) bacterial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and lowest abundance of fungal and Gram(-) bacterial PLFAs compared to surface soils. In the Warden soil series, deep horizons had highest levels of several organic acids, triacylglycerols, and inorganic carbon in the form of calcium carbonates and lowest abundance of several simple sugars and sugar alcohols. Also in Warden soils, there were strong depth effects on untargeted soil multi-omics that signal osmotic and oxidative stress that were not reflected in compositional shifts in the soil microbial community assessed via amplicon sequencing of 16S (bacteria and archaea) and ITS (fungi) genes. Changes in smaller, extractable carbon and nitrogen pools in Palouse soils were also observed. These studies highlighted the importance of targeting specific carbon and nitrogen pools and metabolites instead of total pools or bulk measures, based on the research question and system under study. This research illustrates the value in sampling at least one meter deep to understand microbial and plant interactions with soil carbon and nitrogen in arid and semi-arid soils. Understanding deep soil ecology will be imperative to further soil health management practices that promote long-term carbon sequestration in low water and resource environments.
Download or read book From Fossils to Astrobiology written by Joseph Seckbach and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-11-07 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Fossils to Astrobiology reviews developments in paleontology and geobiology that relate to the rapidly-developing field of Astrobiology, the study of life in the Universe. Many traditional areas of scientific study, including astronomy, chemistry and planetary science, contribute to Astrobiology, but the study of the record of life on planet Earth is critical in guiding investigations in the rest of the cosmos. In this varied book, expert scientists from 15 countries present peer-reviewed, stimulating reviews of paleontological and astrobiological studies. The overviews of established and emerging techniques for studying modern and ancient microorganisms on Earth and beyond, will be valuable guides to evaluating biosignatures which could be found in the extraterrestrial surface or subsurface within the Solar System and beyond. This volume also provides discussion on the controversial reports of "nanobacteria" in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. It is a unique volume among Astrobiology monographs in focusing on fossil evidence from the geological record and will be valuable to students and researchers alike.
Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Arid Environments written by Kong-ying Ha and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Microbiology of Hot Deserts written by Jean-Baptiste Ramond and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-28 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers the wider aspects of the microbiology of hot desert soil ecosystems, compiling disparate information from a range of relevant desert soil microbial fields. The reader learns about microbial ecology of the more dominant and possibly most important desert habitats, detailing the phylogenetic and functional diversity of these different habitats as well as their potential role in desert ecosystem ecology. Particular attention is also given to microbial stress adaptation in hot desert soils. Furthermore, it is the first volume in this particular field to cover modern metagenomics technologies that can be applied to studies of all aspects of desert microbial communities. Additionally, the book explores viruses and viral communities, which are among the least studied (and little understood) components of desert soil microbial communities. Particular attention is also given to the roles of desert microbial communities in biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Through this book the reader discovers how desert microbiology has been at the forefront of Astrobiology and how it may be used conceptually in future terraforming strategies. Desert ecosystems are increasingly coming into focus given the impacts of climate change and desertification trends, making this volume particularly timely. Each of the chapters is authored by leading international researchers and is a must-read for microbial ecologists.
Download or read book Adaption of Microbial Life to Environmental Extremes written by Helga Stan-Lotter and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This entirely updated second edition provides an overview on the biology, ecology and biodiversity of extremophiles. Unusual and less explored ecosystems inhabited by extremophiles such as marine hypersaline deeps, extreme cold, desert sands, and man-made clean rooms for spacecraft assembly are presented. An additional focus is put on the role of these highly specialized microorganism in applied research fields, ranging from biotechnology and nanotechnology to astrobiology. Examples such as novel psychrophilic enzymes, compounds from halophiles, and detection strategies for potential extraterrestrial life forms are discussed in detail. The book addresses researchers and advanced students in the fields of microbiology, microbial ecology and biotechnology.
Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Hot and Cold Desert Soils written by Subramanya Rao and published by Open Dissertation Press. This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation, "Microbial Ecology of Hot and Cold Desert Soils" by Subramanya, Rao, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Deserts are the most abundant terrestrial biome on Earth, and microbial processes assume a major role since environmental stress severely limits higher plant and animal life. A major hurdle to developing an understanding of microbial ecology in deserts has been the lack of knowledge at the fundamental biodiversity level. This is due to lack of research focus and also the inherent bias in 'traditional' microbial diversity estimates based upon cultivation. In this thesis an evaluation of culture-independent approaches employing both DNA and RNA from environmental samples was made with comparison to more traditional cultivation techniques. These were then applied to soils from hot and cold deserts, and along stress gradients from semi-arid to hyper-arid. A literature review was first conducted to assess the extent of current knowledge and identify critical knowledge gaps. The scientific study was then carried out as follows. The second chapter presents an evaluation of fungal taxa using cultivation, DNA and RNA based techniques. The findings indicated major taxa are revealed in all approaches, yet differences in less abundant taxa occur. The third chapter describes fungal assemblages in the soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, a cold polar desert. In this study, RNA based approaches tracked active fungal assemblages, whilst DNA and cultivation revealed additional taxa. Chapter four analyzed microbial communities in the Thar Desert, a hot monsoon desert in India. This study revealed a diverse community that comprised known desiccation-tolerant taxa but also a phylogenetically broad range of bacteria, archaea and eukarya. Chapter 5 focuses on the delineation of total versus active microorganisms in environmental samples from the hot deserts. As with the initial experiments, this revealed that total and active assemblages track each other broadly in desert soils. A synthesis of the study revealed that certain common microbial phyla are likely well-adapted to xeric stress, although distinct hot and cold desert assemblages also develop. For such low-diversity systems it is likely that DNA-based approaches are reasonable tools for diversity analysis, and will be especially useful in arid systems when long periods of inactivity may confound attempts to estimate active populations. Broader significance of the study includes an increased appreciation of eukaryotic microbial presence in arid soils, and how latent soil microbiota may act as a reservoir for development of future microbial macro-structures (e.g. soil crust) that function in soil stabilization, and should therefore be included in conservation planning for deserts. DOI: 10.5353/th_b4961766 Subjects: Microbial ecology Deserts - Ecology
Download or read book Arid Ecosystems written by Hans-Peter Blume and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
