Plant Soil And Microbes In Tropical Ecosystems

This book describes the multitude of interactions between plant, soil, and micro-organisms. It emphasizes on how growth and development in plants, starting from seed germination, is heavily influenced by the soil type. It describes the interactions established by plants with soil and inhabitant microbial community. The chapters describe how plants selectively promote certain microorganisms in the rhizospheric ecozone to derive multifarious benefits such as nutrient acquisition and protection from diseases. The diversity of these rhizospheric microbes and their interactions with plants largely depend on plant genotype, soils attributes, and several abiotic and biotic factors. Most of the studies concerned with plant–microbe interaction are focused on temperate regions, even though the tropical ecosystems are more diverse and need more attention. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how soil type and climatic conditions influence the plant–soil–microbes interaction in the tropics. Considering the significance of the subject, the present volume is designed to cover the most relevant aspects of rhizospheric microbial interactions in tropical ecosystems. Chapters include aspects related to the diversity of rhizospheric microbes, as well as modern tools and techniques to assess the rhizospheric microbiomes and their functional roles. The book also covers applications of rhizospheric microbes and evaluation of prospects improving agricultural practice and productivity through the use of microbiome technologies. This book will be extremely interesting to microbiologists, plant biologists, and ecologists.

The interactions between the plant, soil and microbes are complex in nature. Events may be antagonistic, mutualistic or synergistic, depending upon the types of microorganisms and their association with the plant and soil in question. Multi-trophic tactics can therefore be employed to nourish plants in various habitats and growth conditions. Understanding the mechanisms of these interactions is thus highly desired in order to utilize the knowledge in an ecofriendly and sustainable way. This holistic approach to crop improvement may not only resolve the upcoming food security issues, but also make the environment greener by reducing the chemical inputs. Plant, soil and microbe, Volume 1: Implications in Crop Science, along with the forthcoming Volume 2: Mechanisms and Molecular Interactions, provide detailed accounts of the exquisite and delicate balance between the three critical components of agronomy. Specifically, these two titles focus on the basis of nutrient exchange between the microorganisms and the host plants, the mechanism of disease protection and the recent molecular details emerged from studying this multi-tropic interaction. Together they aim to provide a solid foundation for the students, teachers, and researchers interested in soil microbiology, plant pathology, ecology and agronomy.

Tropical ecosystems are different in important ways from those of temperate regions. They are a major reservoir of plant and animal biodiversity and play important roles in global climate regulation and biogeochemical cycling. They are also under great threat due to the conversion of tropical ecosystems to other uses. Thus, in the context of global change, it is crucial to understand how environmental factors, biogeographic patterns, and land use changes interact to influence the structure and function of microbial communities in these ecosystems. The contributions to this Research Topic showcase the current knowledge regarding microbial ecology in tropical ecosystems, identify many challenges and questions that remain to be addressed and open up new horizons in our understanding of the environmental and anthropological factors controlling microbial communities in these important ecosystems.

Advances in Ecological Research, Volume 62, the latest release in this ongoing series, covers a long list of topics, including Monitoring tropical insects in the 21st Century, The distribution and structure of long-term and large-scale fire manipulation experiments, The Agua Salud Project: Basic and applied research informing management of tropical landscapes for the 21st century, Conservation strategies and principles for tropical forests, Assessing forest quality using satellite remote sensing data: A test case using the Sabah Biodiversity Experiment, eDNA approaches to understand the current state and future of biodiversity of the Amazonian biome: pitfalls, improvements and challenges, and much more. Provides information that relates to a thorough understanding of the field of ecology Deals with topical and important reviews on the physiologies, populations and communities of plants and animals

Plant conservation is increasingly recognised as an outstanding global priority, yet despite considerable efforts over the last few decades, the number of threatened species continues to rise. The practice of plant conservation has for too long been a rather hit-or-miss mixture of methods. While microorganisms have been recognised as a crucial and essential element in supporting the lifecycles of plant species, there has been limited recognition of the relationships between macro level conservation facilitating ecosystem functioning at the micro level. This book addresses the role of microorganisms in conservation - both their support functions and deleterious roles in ecosystem processes and species survival. Importantly, a number of authors highlight how microbial diversity is, itself, now under threat from the many and pervasive influences of man. What is clear from this volume is that like many contemporary treatments of plant and animal conservation, the solution to mitigate the erosion of biodiversity is not simple. This book represents an attempt to bring to the fore the ecological underwriting provided by microorganisms.

Ecosystem Consequences of Soil Warming: Microbes, Vegetation, Fauna and Soil Biogeochemistry focuses on biotic and biogeochemical responses to warmer soils including plant and microbial evolution. It covers various field settings, such as arctic tundra; alpine meadows; temperate, tropical and subalpine forests; drylands; and grassland ecosystems. Information integrates multiple natural science disciplines, providing a holistic, integrative approach that will help readers understand and forecast future planetwide responses to soil warming. Students and educators will find this book informative for understanding biotic and biogeochemical responses to changing climatic conditions. Scientists from a wide range of disciplines, including soil scientists, ecologists, geneticists, as well as molecular, evolutionary and conservation biologists, will find this book a valuable resource in understanding and planning for warmer climate conditions. Emphasizes biological components of soils, plants and microbes that provide linkages to physics and chemistry Brings together chapters written by global scientific experts with interests in communication and education Includes coverage of polar, alpine, tropical, temperate and dryland ecosystems

Ecosystem Consequences of Soil Warming: Microbes, Vegetation, Fauna and Soil Biogeochemistry focuses on biotic and biogeochemical responses to warmer soils including plant and microbial evolution. It covers various field settings, such as arctic tundra; alpine meadows; temperate, tropical and subalpine forests; drylands; and grassland ecosystems. Information integrates multiple natural science disciplines, providing a holistic, integrative approach that will help readers understand and forecast future planetwide responses to soil warming. Students and educators will find this book informative for understanding biotic and biogeochemical responses to changing climatic conditions. Scientists from a wide range of disciplines, including soil scientists, ecologists, geneticists, as well as molecular, evolutionary and conservation biologists, will find this book a valuable resource in understanding and planning for warmer climate conditions. Emphasizes biological components of soils, plants and microbes that provide linkages to physics and chemistry Brings together chapters written by global scientific experts with interests in communication and education Includes coverage of polar, alpine, tropical, temperate and dryland ecosystems

This book presents a comprehensive collection of articles illustrating the importance of microbial community structure and function for ecosystem sustainability and environmental reclamation. It addresses a diverse range of topics, including microbial diversity, physiology, genomics, ecosystem function, interaction, metabolism, and the fruitful use of microbial communities for crop productivity and environmental remediation. In addition, the book explores issues ranging from general concepts on the diversity of microorganisms in soil, and ecosystem function to the evolution and taxonomy of soil microbiota, with future prospects. It covers cutting-edge methods in soil microbial ecological studies, rhizosphere microflora, the role of organic matter in plant productivity, biological nitrogen fixation and its genetics, microbial transformation of plant nutrients in soil, plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria, and organic matter transformation. The book also discusses the application of microbes in biodegradation of xenobiotic contaminants. It covers bio-fertilizers and their role in sustainable agriculture and soil health, biological control of insect pests and plant pathogens, and the latest tools of omics in soil microbiology, i.e. genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics, which offer pioneering approaches to the exploration of microbial structure and function.