Effectiveness of ecological rescue for altered soil microbial communities and functions.

ABSTRACT: Soil ecosystems worldwide are subjected to marked modifications caused by anthropogenic disturbances and global climate change, resulting in microbial diversity loss and alteration of ecosystem functions. Despite the paucity of studies, restoration ecology provides an appropriate framework for testing the potential of manipulating soil microbial communities for the recovery of ecosystem functioning. We used a reciprocal transplant design in experimentally altered microbial communities to investigate the effectiveness of introducing microbial communities in degraded soil ecosystems to restore N-cycle functioning. Microbial diversity loss resulted in alternative compositional states associated with impaired N-cycle functioning. Here, the addition of complex microbial communities to these alt

SUBMITTER: Calderon K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5315478 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature