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Interactions and Self-Organization in the Soil-Microbe Complex
I. M. Young* and
J. W. Crawford
Soil is the most complicated biomaterial on the planet. As withany material, the physical habitat is of prime importance indetermining and regulating biological activity. However, untilrecently the opaque nature of soil has meant that any interrogationof its interior architecture has been relatively rudimentary,restricted to simple qualitative expressions of the physicalheterogeneity that fail to relate to any specific function.However, new techniques and insights into the biophysical andbiochemical processes of this inner space are leading to thedevelopments of theoretical frameworks and experimental approachesthat will allow us to sustainably manage Earth's most importantresource. We introduce the concept that the soil-microbe systemis self-organized and suggest new priorities for research basedon an integrative approach that combines biochemistry and biophysics.
Scottish Informatics, Mathematics, Biology, and Statistics (SIMBIOS) Centre, University of Abertay, Bell Street, Dundee, DD1 1HG Scotland, UK.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: imy{at}tay.ac.uk
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