Three-dimensional microorganization of the soil-root-microbe system

Debbie S. Feeney, John W. Crawford, Tim Daniell, Paul D. Hallett, Naoise Nunan, Karl Ritz, Mark Rivers, Iain M. Young

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

235 Scopus citations

Abstract

Soils contain the greatest reservoir of biodiversity on Earth, and the functionality of the soil ecosystem sustains the rest of the terrestrial biosphere. This functionality results from complex interactions between biological and physical processes that are strongly modulated by the soil physical structure. Using a novel combination of biochemical and biophysical indicators and synchrotron microtomography, we have discovered that soil microbes and plant roots microengineer their habitats by changing the porosity and clustering properties (i.e., spatial correlation) of the soil pores. Our results indicate that biota act to significantly alter their habitat toward a more porous, ordered, and aggregated structure that has important consequences for functional properties, including transport processes. These observations support the hypothesis that the soil-plant-microbe complex is self-organized. © Springer+Business Media, Inc. 2006.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)151-158
Number of pages8
JournalMicrobial Ecology
Volume52
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2006
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Soil Science

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