Microbiomes are communities of microorganisms living in soil and other habitats. In recent years, a new wave of research into understanding soil microbiomes has emerged, with stakeholders across the supply chain recognising the fundamental importance of these communities in optimising both crop and soil health. Despite these advancements, many soil microorganisms and their ecological functions remain only partially understood.
Understanding and utilising soil microbiomes for a more sustainable agriculture summarises the wealth of recent research in this important area. It reviews advances in techniques for analysing soil microorganisms, the composition and dynamics of soil microbial communities, the ecosystem services they support and how they can be enhanced.
- Provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in delivering key ecosystem services such as carbon and nutrient cycling
- Reviews recent advances in understanding the role of different microbial communities in soil
- Shows how the beneficial role of soil microbiomes can be promoted in achieving a more sustainable agriculture
This collection summarises the wealth of recent research in understanding the fundamental importance of soil microbiomes in optimising soil and crop health. The book reviews advances in analytical techniques, the composition and dynamics of soil microbial communities and how they can be enhanced to deliver a range of ecosystem services.
Part 1 Advances in analysing soil microbiomes
1.Advances in soil viromics in understanding viral diversity and function:
Azza Larafa, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada/Université de Montréal,
Canada and Mamadou L. Fall , Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada;
2.Advances in metaproteomics for analyzing soil microorganisms: Paolo
Nannipieri, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), Italy; Jing Se, Zhejiang
University, China; and Laura Giagnoni, Architectural Engineering and
Mathematics (DICATAM), Italy;
Part 2 Bacteria and fungi in soil
3.Emerging roles for soil Bacteroidetes in complex carbon and organic
phosphorus cycling: Ian D. E. A. Lidbury, Lucy Rogers, Sophie R. M. Groenhof
and Andrew Hitchcock, University of Sheffield, UK; and Lauren S. McKee, KTH
Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden;
4.Advances in understanding Actinobacteria in soil: Yuanyuan Bao, Xin Li and
Ruirui Chen, Nanjing Forestry University, China; Youzhi Feng, Nanjing
Forestry University, China and Chinese Academy of Sciences, China;
5.Fungi: advances in understanding the role of root-associated fungi in soil:
Nimalka Weerasuriya, University of Western Ontario, Canada and A & L
Biologicals, Canada; Noor Saeed Cheema, Marianna Wallace and R. Greg Thorn,
University of Western Ontario, Canada; and Saveetha Kandasamy, Soledad
Saldias and George Lazarovits, A & L Biologicals, Canada;
Part 3 Analysing structure and dynamics of soil microbiomes
6.Advances in understanding microbial communities in the rhizosphere: R.
Regmi, Qi Yang, and Vadakattu V. S. R. Gupta, CSIRO Agriculture and Food,
Australia;
7.Nematodes and their trophic interactions in the soil microbiome: Liliane
Ruess, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany;
8.Advances in understanding soil microbiomes in ecosystem functioning across
trophic chains: Karoline Jetter, University of Ulm, Germany; and Patrick
Schäfer, Justus Liebig University, Germany;
Part 4 Soil microbiomes and ecosystem services
9.Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in carbon cycling in
soil: Alain F. Plante, University of Pennsylvania, USA; and Jennifer
Pett-Ridge, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA;
10.Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in nutrient
cycling: Tim Clough, Lincoln University, New Zealand;
11.Advances in understanding and exploiting the role of soil microbiomes in
protecting crops against pathogens and pests: Rekha Kandaswamy, Bhagyam
Agri-Enclave Pvt. Ltd, India; Himani Datta, SGS North America Inc., USA;
Niladri Chaudhry, Food Corporation of India, India; Anuradha Gautam,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, India; and Vasvi Chaudhry, University of
Tübingen, Germany;
12.Advances in understanding the role of soil microbiomes in promoting crop
resilient to drought stresss: Zakaria M. Solaiman and Kadambot H. M.
Siddique, The UWA Institute of Agriculture, and UWA School of Agriculture and
Environment, The University of Western Australia, Australia;
Part 5 Promoting soil microbiomes and their contribution to soil ecosystem
services
13.Understanding and optimizing soil physical properties to promote soil
microbiomes: Wei Shi, North Carolina State University, USA;
14.Assessing the impact of inorganic fertilisers on soil microbiomes: Joann
K. Whalen, McGill University, Canada and Center for Sustainable Soil Sciences
(C3S), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco; and Shamim Gul, McGill
University, Canada and University of Balochistan, Pakistan;
15.Understanding how land-use management affects soil microbiomes: Lucas
William Mendes, Thierry Alexandre Pellegrinetti and Alexandre Pedrinho,
Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sćo Paulo, Brazil;
and Dennis Goss-Souza, Federal Institute of Paranį, Brazil;
Dr Kari E. Dunfield is a Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, Canada. Working at the intersection of microbiology, ecology, and soil science, her work investigates the microbial communities and microbial processes driving the global processes that help support life on Earth. She is the North American Representative for the UN-FAO Global Soil Partnership (Pillar 1). Dr Dunfield is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Microbiology.
Dr. Mamadou L. Fall is a research scientist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and associate Professor for Université de Sherbrooke. He is leading the virus epidemiology laboratory at the Science and Technology Branch of AAFC. Falls research ranges from host-virus interaction studies to applied field research focused on disease management in horticultural agroecosystem (ex. Grapevine, small fruits, etc.). He is currently a senior editor and an associate editor of the Plant Disease journal (APS) and the Canadian journal of plant pathology, respectively. Dr Paolo Nannipieri is Emeritus Professor at the University of Florence (Firenze), Italy. He has authored/co-authored around 250 publications and has edited eight books, including the 3rd edition of Modern Soil Microbiology. Dr Nannipieri is the Editor-in-Chief of Biology and Fertility of Soils and member of the Editorial Board of Arid Soil Research and Rehabilitation. He has been the International Representative of the Italian Society of Soil Science at IUSS and president of the Italian Society of Agricultural Chemistry and of the Commission Soil Biology of the IUSS. Dr Ian Lidbury is a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield investigating plant-microbe interactions. He has a background in environmental nutrient cycling, microbial ecology and ecological interactions. His lab combines computational and wet-lab approaches to understand the functional role of key microbes in the environment, particularly those in agriculture. Joann K. Whalen is a James McGill Professor at McGill University and an Affiliate Professor with the African Genome Center at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco. Her research focuses on soil fertility and soil ecology in agroecosystems. She has published more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications and supervised/co-supervised more than 60 students at the M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels. Dr. Whalen is currently a Chief Editor for Soil Biology and Biochemistry, a Subject Editor for Applied Energy and a Review Editor for PNAS Nexus. Dr Lucas William Mendes is an Assistant Professor on Ecogenomics and Environmental Sustainability at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo (CENA-USP), in Piracicaba-SP, Brazil.
