Microbiomes at Risk

Study results suggest that actually identifying every microbial species on Earth is an almost unimaginably huge challenge. To put the task in perspective, the Earth Microbiome Project -- a global multidisciplinary project to identify microscope organisms -- has so far cataloged less than 10 million species.

"Of those cataloged species, only about 10,000 have ever been grown in a lab, and fewer than 100,000 have classified sequences... this leaves 100,000 times more microorganisms awaiting discovery -- and 100 million to be fully explored. Microbial biodiversity, it appears, is greater than ever imagined."

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Researchers are only beginning to understand the complexities of the microbes in the earth’s soil and oceans and the role they play in fostering healthy ecosystems.

http://e360.yale.edu/slideshow/is_climate_change_putting_br_-_worlds_microbiomes_at_risk/520/2/

Climate change is threatening to disrupt these microbes and the key functions they provide...

One fact now being studied: the Earth's soil (and ocean) has locked up a great deal of carbon and should it come unlocked as C02 it could dramatically speed up climate change. "A big question is whether soil will be a sink or source of greenhouse gases in the future..."

Researchers say that as the planet warms, essential diversity and function in the microbial world could be lost...

http://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/Extinction

Whether microbes can go extinct is not settled science. When it comes to microbes, “everything is everywhere” has been the adage among researchers who thought that all types lived everywhere, though abundance varied. Yet as more is learned about these tiniest of critters, some scientists believe that likely isn't true, and there is concern that some key microbes could be rendered extinct before we know what they do.

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A Forest Walk (and 'Tiny Little Ones All Around'

Microbiomes at the Roots: A New Look at Forest Ecology

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Supporting a Living Earth: What About the Earth's Microbiome?

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/what-about-earth-8217-s-microbiome/

See Unified Microbiome Initiative

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/01/27/calling-all-microbiome-science-champions

Scientists and engineers are teaming up to answer fundamental questions about the microbiome – the billions of microorganisms that live on and in us, our homes, our food, and our planet. Questions such as, “What is a healthy microbiome?” and “How can we manage microbiomes to keep them resilient?” are applicable to microbiomes in habitats as diverse as oceans, soil, and the human body...

Microbiology: Create a global microbiome effort

http://www.nature.com/news/microbiology-create-a-global-microbiome-effort-1.18636

There Is a Whole World Inside Every Plant

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-- Green Policy / Global & Local

-- #Earth360 #EarthPOV #EarthObservations #EarthScience

-- #PlanetCitizens #PlanetEarth #EcologyStudies #EnvironmentalSecurity #Sustainability 

and... in passing, a Hollywood creative thanks to Dr. Seuss for reminding us of the Who!

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Microbiomes at Risk

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