Microbial Biogeochemistry

This book highlights perspectives, insights, and data in the coupled fields of aquatic microbial ecology and biogeochemistry when viewed through the lens of collaborative duos – dual career couples. Their synergy and collaborative interactions have contributed substantially to our contemporary understanding of pattern, process and dynamics. This is thus a book by dual career couples about dual scientific processes. The papers herein represent wide-ranging topics, from the processes that structure microbial diversity to nitrogen and photosynthesis metabolism, to dynamics of changing ecosystems and processes and dynamics in individual ecosystems. In all, these papers take us from the Arctic to Africa, from the Arabian Sea to Australia, from small lakes in Maine and Yellowstone hot vents to the Sargasso Sea, and in the process provide analyses that make us think about the structure and function of all of these systems in the aquatic realm. This book is useful not only for the depth and breadth of knowledge conveyed in its chapters, but serves to guide dual career couples faced with the great challenges only they face. Great teams do make great science.

Bacterial Biogeochemistry, Third Edition focuses on bacterial metabolism and its relevance to the environment, including the decomposition of soil, food chains, nitrogen fixation, assimilation and reduction of carbon nitrogen and sulfur, and microbial symbiosis. The scope of the new edition has broadened to provide a historical perspective, and covers in greater depth topics such as bioenergetic processes, characteristics of microbial communities, spatial heterogeneity, transport mechanisms, microbial biofilms, extreme environments and evolution of biogeochemical cycles. Provides up-to-date coverage with an enlarged scope, a new historical perspective, and coverage in greater depth of topics of special interest Covers interactions between microbial processes, atmospheric composition and the earth's greenhouse properties Completely rewritten to incorporate all the advances and discoveries of the last 20 years such as applications in the exploration for ore deposits and oil and in remediation of environmental pollution

Bacterial Biogeochemistry, Third Edition focuses on bacterial metabolism and its relevance to the environment, including the decomposition of soil, food chains, nitrogen fixation, assimilation and reduction of carbon nitrogen and sulfur, and microbial symbiosis. The scope of the new edition has broadened to provide a historical perspective, and covers in greater depth topics such as bioenergetic processes, characteristics of microbial communities, spatial heterogeneity, transport mechanisms, microbial biofilms, extreme environments and evolution of biogeochemical cycles. Provides up-to-date coverage with an enlarged scope, a new historical perspective, and coverage in greater depth of topics of special interest Covers interactions between microbial processes, atmospheric composition and the earth's greenhouse properties Completely rewritten to incorporate all the advances and discoveries of the last 20 years such as applications in the exploration for ore deposits and oil and in remediation of environmental pollution

Bacterial Biogeochemistry, Second Edition focuses on bacterial metabolism and its relevance to the environment, including the decomposition of soil, food chains, nitrogen fixation, assimilation and reduction of carbon nitrogen and sulfur, and microbial symbiosis. The scope of the new edition has broadened to provide a historical perspective, and covers in greater depth topics such as bioenergetic processes, characteristics of microbial communities, spacial heterogeneity, transport mechanisms, microbial biofilms, extreme environments and evolution of biogeochemical cycles. Key Features * Provides up-to-date coverage with an enlarged scope, a new historical perspective, and coverage in greater depth of topics of special interest * Covers interactions between microbial processes, atmospheric composition and the earth's greenhouse properties * Completely rewritten to incorporate all the advances and discoveries of the last 20 years

This textbook presents a comprehensive process-oriented approach to biogeochemistry that is intended to appeal to readers who want to go beyond a general exposure to topics in biogeochemistry, and instead are seeking a holistic understanding of the interplay of biotic and environmental drivers in the cycling of elements in forested watersheds. The book is organized around a core set of ecosystem processes and attributes that collectively help to generate the whole-system structure and function of a terrestrial ecosystem. In the first nine chapters, a conceptual framework is developed based on distinct soil, microbial, plant, atmospheric, hydrologic, and geochemical processes that are integrated in the element cycling behavior of watershed ecosystems. With that conceptual foundation in place, students then proceed to the final three chapters where they are challenged to think critically about integrated element cycling patterns; roles for biogeochemical models; the likely impacts of disturbance, stress, and management on watershed biogeochemistry; and linkages among patterns and processes in watersheds experiencing novel environmental changes. Included with the text are figures, tables of comparative data, extensive literature citations, a glossary of terms, an index, and a set of 24 biogeochemical problems with answers. The problems are intended to support chapter concepts and to demonstrate how critical thinking skills, simple algebra, and thoughtful human logic can be used to solve applied problems in biogeochemistry that might be encountered by a research scientist or a resource manager. Using this book as an introduction to biogeochemistry, students will achieve a level of subject mastery and disciplinary perspective that will permit them to see and to interpret the individual components, interactions, and synergies that are represented in the dynamic element cycling patterns of watershed ecosystems.

New and expanded for its second edition, Environmental Microbiology: From Genomes to Biogeochemistry¸ Second Edition, is a timely update to a classic text filled with ideas, connections, and concepts that advance an in-depth understanding of this growing segment of microbiology. Core principles are highlighted with an emphasis on the logic of the science and new methods-driven discoveries. Numerous up-to-date examples and applications boxes provide tangible reinforcement of material covered. Study questions at the end of each chapter require students to utilize analytical and quantitative approaches, to define and defend arguments, and to apply microbiological paradigms to their personal interests. Essay assignments and related readings stimulate student inquiry and serve as focal points for teachers to launch classroom discussions. A companion website with downloadable artwork and answers to study questions is also available. Environmental Microbiology: From Genomes to Biogeochemistry, Second Edition, offers a coherent and comprehensive treatment of this dynamic, emerging field, building bridges between basic biology, evolution, genomics, ecology, biotechnology, climate change, and the environmental sciences.

Global biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients are increasingly affected by human activities. So far, modeling has been central for our understanding of how this will affect ecosystem functioning and the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients. These models have been forced to adopt a reductive approach built on the flow of carbon and nutrients between pools that are difficult or even impossible to verify with empirical evidence. Furthermore, while some of these models include the response in physiology, ecology and biogeography of primary producers to environmental change, the microbial part of the ecosystem is generally poorly represented or lacking altogether. The principal pool of carbon and nutrients in soil is the organic matter. The turnover of this reservoir is governed by microorganisms that act as catalytic converters of environmental conditions into biogeochemical cycling of carbon and nutrients. The dependency of this conversion activity on individual environmental conditions such as pH, moisture and temperature has been frequently studied. On the contrary, only rarely have the microorganisms involved in carrying out the processes been identified, and one of the biggest challenges for advancing our understanding of biogeochemical processes is to identify the microorganisms carrying out a specific set of metabolic processes and how they partition their carbon and nutrient use. We also need to identify the factors governing these activities and if they result in feedback mechanisms that alter the growth, activity and interaction between primary producers and microorganisms. By determining how different groups of microorganisms respond to individual environmental conditions by allocating carbon and nutrients to production of biomass, CO2 and other products, a mechanistic as well as quantitative understanding of formation and decomposition of organic matter, and the production and consumption of greenhouse gases, can be achieved. In this Research Topic, supported by the Swedish research councils' programme "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Landscape" (BECC), we intend to promote this alternative framework to address how cycling of carbon and nutrients will be altered in a changing environment from the first-principle mechanisms that drive them – namely the ecology, physiology and biogeography of microorganisms – and on up to emerging global biogeochemical patterns. This novel and unconventional approach has the potential to generate fresh insights that can open up new horizons and stimulate rapid conceptual development in our basic understanding of the regulating factors for global biogeochemical cycles. The vision for the research topic is to facilitate such progress by bringing together leading scientists as proponents of several disciplines. By bridging Microbial Ecology and Biogeochemistry, connecting microbial activities at the micro-scale to carbon fluxes at the ecosystem-scale, and linking above- and belowground ecosystem functioning, we can leap forward from the current understanding of the global biogeochemical cycles.