Agriculture, mining, urbanization, and growth of the built environment not only visibly disrupt the aesthetics of a landscape but disrupt all the soil components including soil horizons and structure, soil microbe populations, and nutrient cycles that are crucial to sustaining healthy ecosystems. All ecosystems function optimally as a process that is dependent on nutrient recycling balanced by production and eventual decomposition of microbial, plant and animal organic matter. Soil is the scaffold that sustains these ecosystem services that are critical for life, so its structure, composition and density directly affect the future stability and productivity of the affected terrain. Micro-organisms can inhabit diverse geological environments and play a major role in creating environments conducive for themselves and for other life forms. Because of their significant contribution to the ecosystem services, microbial interactions within the geosphere lie at the heart of the interdisciplinary field of Geomicrobiology, which seeks to investigate the interplay between biology and geology. Until relatively recently, most soil quality indicators looked at the chemical and physical characteristics of the soil. Today, we have a better understanding of soil ecology and know that soil health can also be measured by the life within it. While chemical and physical characteristics of soil change slowly from year to year, soil biology is dynamic with implications for soil chemistry and structure. Advanced molecular techniques that use genetic sequencing technology now allow for extensive phylogenetic identification of microbial populations and their potential environmental functioning, thus revealing previously unrecognized ecological interactions between biological entities and the geosphere.
The scope of this research topic encompasses Geomicrobiology studies, with focus on the interactions of microorganisms with the geosphere materials such as soil, rocks, sediments, and minerals resulting in mineral formation, transformation, and dissolution. Reviews, perspectives, opinion papers and basic research studies should highlight and endeavour to describe the intimate relationship between microbes, minerals, and soil organic matter and where possible and appropriate, elaborate possible applications for microbes to ensure sustainable geochemical processes, including fundamental biotic responses to evolving geosphere environments such as in bioremediation of disturbed terrain and restoration of soil fertility.
Agriculture, mining, urbanization, and growth of the built environment not only visibly disrupt the aesthetics of a landscape but disrupt all the soil components including soil horizons and structure, soil microbe populations, and nutrient cycles that are crucial to sustaining healthy ecosystems. All ecosystems function optimally as a process that is dependent on nutrient recycling balanced by production and eventual decomposition of microbial, plant and animal organic matter. Soil is the scaffold that sustains these ecosystem services that are critical for life, so its structure, composition and density directly affect the future stability and productivity of the affected terrain. Micro-organisms can inhabit diverse geological environments and play a major role in creating environments conducive for themselves and for other life forms. Because of their significant contribution to the ecosystem services, microbial interactions within the geosphere lie at the heart of the interdisciplinary field of Geomicrobiology, which seeks to investigate the interplay between biology and geology. Until relatively recently, most soil quality indicators looked at the chemical and physical characteristics of the soil. Today, we have a better understanding of soil ecology and know that soil health can also be measured by the life within it. While chemical and physical characteristics of soil change slowly from year to year, soil biology is dynamic with implications for soil chemistry and structure. Advanced molecular techniques that use genetic sequencing technology now allow for extensive phylogenetic identification of microbial populations and their potential environmental functioning, thus revealing previously unrecognized ecological interactions between biological entities and the geosphere.
The scope of this research topic encompasses Geomicrobiology studies, with focus on the interactions of microorganisms with the geosphere materials such as soil, rocks, sediments, and minerals resulting in mineral formation, transformation, and dissolution. Reviews, perspectives, opinion papers and basic research studies should highlight and endeavour to describe the intimate relationship between microbes, minerals, and soil organic matter and where possible and appropriate, elaborate possible applications for microbes to ensure sustainable geochemical processes, including fundamental biotic responses to evolving geosphere environments such as in bioremediation of disturbed terrain and restoration of soil fertility.