How does soil microbiology relate to soil quality?
Dave: The methods to identify and monitor microbes living in soils have advanced dramatically in recent years. They open up the possibility that biological properties could be used to measure and monitor soil quality. Peter: For example, perhaps we could identify indicator microbes in a soil that, sort of like a canary in a coal mine, would signal when the soil system is under stress and we need to change our management practices. Do certain microbes disappear from the community or do others appear as the soil responds to a stress like plowing or cultivation? How does the composition of the microbial community shift in response to soil deterioration? Perhaps we could use microbial indicators as a sensitive monitoring system – sort of like measuring blood pressure. Ideally they would give a warning sign when soil productivity was in the early stages of decline, and then we could correct the decline in soil quality. Dave: Our student, Guilherme was interested in these ideas, so his studi
