Summary
This narrative review, published in the MDPI journal Sustainability in 2023, synthesises current knowledge on the diversity and ecological roles of the soil microbiome, with a focus on plant-microbe interactions relevant to agricultural productivity and soil health. It likely draws on evidence from multiple agro-ecosystems worldwide to describe how microbial communities contribute to nutrient cycling, disease suppression, and plant resilience. The paper provides a mechanistic framework for understanding how management practices can be tailored to harness beneficial soil microorganisms.
UK applicability
Although the review is global in scope, its mechanistic findings on soil microbial diversity and plant-microbe interactions are broadly applicable to UK arable and mixed farming systems, and are relevant to UK policy objectives around sustainable soil management, reduced synthetic inputs and nature recovery targets under the Environmental Land Management schemes.
Key measures
Microbial diversity indices; functional categories of plant-growth-promoting microorganisms; mechanisms of nutrient solubilisation, nitrogen fixation and phytohormone production; soil health indicators
Outcomes reported
The paper likely reviews the taxonomic and functional diversity of soil microbial communities and examines how bacteria, fungi, archaea and other microorganisms interact with plant roots to influence nutrient cycling, plant growth promotion and soil health. It probably also addresses how agricultural management practices and environmental factors shape microbiome composition and function.
Topic tags
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