Study Digs Up Roles Bacteria Play in Global Carbon Cycle
Published:30 Nov.2021 Source:Cornell University
Cornell researchers have developed an innovative technique to track microbes and understand the various ways they process soil carbon, findings that add to our knowledge of how bacteria contribute to the global carbon cycle.
That's important because soil bacteria are notorously difficult to study, though they are a key to the health of our biosphere. They convert plant biomass into soil organic matter, which is the basis for soil fertility and which holds three times more carbon than the atmosphere. In this way, bacteria control how much carbon ends up in the atmosphere or stored in soil and every year soil microbes process about six times more carbon than all anthropogenic emissions combined.