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One key mechanism by which soil microbes sequester carbon is through the production of microbial biomass. Bacteria and fungi assimilate carbon from decomposed organic matter into their cellular structures as they grow and reproduce. This microbial biomass serves as a reservoir for stored carbon in the soil, effectively sequestering carbon from ...
Turnover of mycorrhizal biomass into the soil carbon pool is thought to be rapid [7] and has been shown in some ecosystems to be the dominant pathway by which living carbon enters the soil carbon pool. [8] Outlined below are the leading lines of evidence for how different aspects of mycorrhizal fungi may alter soil carbon decomposition and storage.
The aquatic microbial loop is a marine trophic pathway which incorporates dissolved organic carbon into the food chain.. The microbial loop describes a trophic pathway where, in aquatic systems, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is returned to higher trophic levels via its incorporation into bacterial biomass, and then coupled with the classic food chain formed by phytoplankton-zooplankton-nekton.
Soil carbon is critical for terrestrial organisms and is one of the most important carbon pools, with the majority of carbon stored in forests. [3] Biotic factors include photosynthetic assimilation of fixed carbon, decomposition of biomass, and the activities of diverse communities of soil organisms. [ 4 ]
Free-living microfungi often function as decomposers, and contribute to soil microbial biomass. Many microfungi in biological soil crusts have adapted to the intense light conditions by evolving the ability to produce melanin, and are called black fungi or black yeasts. Fungal hyphae can bind soil particles together.
Biomass is the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time. Biomass can refer to species biomass, which is the mass of one or more species, or to community biomass, which is the mass of all species in the community. It can include microorganisms, plants or animals. [3]
Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface.
Microbial ecology (or environmental microbiology) is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life—Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria—as well as viruses. [2] This relationship is often mediated by secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms.