Microbial communities in montane ecosystems 

Montane ecosystems are particularly sensitive to changing environmental conditions, offering an “attractive” scenario for evaluating the compositional and functional changes of soil microbial communities in the context of climate change. Deadwood represents an important temporary carbon pool in this type of ecosystems. Fungi and bacteria are cornerstone members of communities driving biochemical cycles and the occurrence of bacterial-fungal interactions can translate to major consequences for deadwood decomposition dynamics, soil carbon balance and, in turn forest productivity. This has caught my eye during my postdoctoral stay in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Innsbruck. Moreover, I have recently started a collaboration with Professor Yahya Kooch from Tarbiat Modares University in Mazandaran, Iran.

 

Some key papers:

• Kooch Y., et al. (2023). The effect of silvicultural systems on soil function depends on bedrock geology and altitude. Journal of Environmental Management 345:118657.

• Probst M. et al. (2018). Bacterial communities of decaying organic Norway spruce follow distinct slope exposure and time-dependent trajectories. Environmental Microbiology 20:3657-3670.

• Gómez-Brandón M. et al. (2017). Physico-chemical and microbiological evidence of exposure effects on Picea abies - coarse woody debris at different stages of decay. Forest Ecology and Management 391:376-389

• Bardelli T. et al. (2017). Effects of slope exposure on soil physico-chemical and microbiological properties along an altitudinal climosequence in the Italian Alps. STOTEN 575:1041-1055.

 

Microbial communities in agroecosystems 

Agricultural intensification constitutes one of the most prevalent challenges of the twenty-first century because of continuous global population growth. This has given rise to the urgent need to find sustainable and profitable solutions to preserve soil health. The recycling and valorization of organic wastes through biological processes like vermicomposting, entomocomposting or anaerobic digestion can contribute to both environmental protection and fertilizer production. My interest in this area is twofold. First, to evaluate the compositional and functional changes of microbial communities throughout these processes. Second, to study the impact of the end products (vermicompost, insect frass and digestate) on the abundance, composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. Recently, I have started a new line of investigation dealing with the potenital of insect larvae for waste bioconversion  in close collaboration with ICIPE research centre and the University of Innsbruck.   

 

Some key papers: 

• Gómez-Brandón M. et al. (2024). Garden fruit chafer (Pachnoda sinuata L.) accelerates recycling and bioremediation of animal waste. Waste Management 173:131-140.

• Insam H. et al. (2023). Biology of compost. Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment 294-301.

• Beesigamukama D. et al. (2022). Potential of entomocomposting towards organic waste and soil pathogen suppression. In: Huang K. , Bhat S.A., Cui G. (Eds.), Fate of Biological Contaminants during Recycling of Organic Wastes. Elsevier, pp. 47-63.

 

Microbial communities in anthropogenic ecosystems

Maintaining and enhancing soil health is essential in all ecosystems, but it can be particularly challenging in urban environments. The worldwide intensification of urbanization during the last decades represents a major challenge for the environment and in particular for soils, which suffer the effects of the increasing pressure urban development. In parallel, food production within cities has been developing and increasing in importance during the last decades. Thus, different forms of urban agriculture are developing as a way to secure a supply of clean food in urban areas, as it is estimated that, in 2050, 80% of the world’s food will be consumed in cities. 

​

Some key papers: 

• Probst M., et al. (2023). Fungal-bacterial associations in urban allotment garden soils. Applied Soil Ecology 188:104896.

• Gómez-Brandón et al. (2022). Influence of land use on the microbiological properties of urgan soils. Applied Soil Ecology 175:104452.

​