Soil microbial ecology: ecosystemic functions and services

Soil carries out functions that are crucial for the environment and life on earth and is therefore an essential non renewable resource for mankind. Recently, the European Soil Framework Directive proposal indicated that soil is under increasing environmental pressure mostly due to the intensification of human activities, which are damaging the capacity of soil to continue to perform in full its broad variety of crucial functions. Most of these soil functions are depending on micro-organisms inhabiting the soil. The diversity of soil micro-organisms is the highest on earth with estimates of several thousand to several million different genomes per gram of soil. However fundamental knowledge of the diversity and ecology of microbial communities carrying out soil functions is still limited. Understanding the impact of anthropogenic activities on microbial communities and how this relates to soil functioning is therefore a major challenge in soil microbiology. The revolution in the techniques available to date offer exciting opportunities for a better understanding of the relationships between microbial diversity and soil functions. This talk will focus on the novel insights into the impact of human activities on microbial communities and potential consequences for ecosystem processes