What is the role of ecosystem services in climate change adaptation and role of microbes in enriching soil fertility and crop productivity?
Ecosystem services play a critical role in climate change adaptation by providing essential functions that support human well-being and the resilience of ecosystems. These services, such as carbon sequestration, water purification, and regulation of climate extremes, can help mitigate the impacts of climate change. For instance, forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, thereby mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Wetlands and riparian areas help regulate flooding and filter pollutants from water sources. Moreover, biodiversity within ecosystems enhances their ability to adapt to changing conditions. Preserving and restoring ecosystems, along with promoting sustainable land use practices, are key strategies for harnessing ecosystem services in climate change adaptation.
Microbes play a vital role in enriching soil fertility and enhancing crop productivity. These microscopic organisms, including bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi, form symbiotic relationships with plants and help in nutrient uptake. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use, while mycorrhizal fungi increase nutrient absorption, especially phosphorus. Microbes also participate in the decomposition of organic matter, breaking down dead plant material and animal remains, returning valuable nutrients to the soil. Moreover, certain microbial products like biofertilizers and biopesticides are utilized in sustainable agriculture to improve soil health and reduce the reliance on synthetic chemicals. By enhancing nutrient availability and soil structure, microorganisms contribute significantly to crop resilience, making them indispensable in the effort to adapt agriculture to the challenges posed by climate change.
An ecosystem is a dynamic functional unit consisting of all plants and animals (biodiversity) in an area, together with the nonliving, physical components of the environment (water, soil and air) with which they interact. Services provided by ecosystems :
Provisioning - timber, food, clean air.
Regulating - climate, flooding.
Cultural - health, recreation and tourism.
Supporting - soil formation, water cycling, social and economic prosperity.
Ecosystem services play an important role in strategies for tackling climate change - mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation aims at reducing emissions sources or enhancing sinks of greenhouse gases, and adaptation aims at adjusting natural or human systems to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities from climate variations.
Ecosystems contribute to mitigation because of their capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere and to store it. Ecosystems contribute also to adaptation because they provide services that can help people adapt to both current climate hazards and future climate change.
Soil microorganisms are responsible for most of the nutrient release from organic matter. When microorganisms decompose organic matter, they use the carbon and nutrients in the organic matter for their own growth. They release excess nutrients into the soil where they can be taken up by plants.
The degradation of agricultural pesticides in soil is primarily performed by microorganisms. Some microorganisms in soil produce enzymes that can break down agricultural pesticides or other toxic substances added to soil. The length of time these substances remain in soil is related to how easily they are degraded by microbial enzymes.
The main effects of the presence of microorganisms in the soil is improved plant nutrition which are very important for plant productivity.
Biodiversity plays an important role in regulating the climate, thus making a key contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation. At the same time, climate change affects ecosystem dynamics and the distribution and abundance of species and habitats.Ecosystems contribute to mitigation because of their capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere and to store it. Ecosystems contribute also to adaptation because they provide services that can help people adapt to both current climate hazards and future climate change. A changing climate has the potential to alter many of the ecosystem services that are provided by and support agricultural and forestry systems, including food production, pollination services, pest control, and water quality regulation. Forest ecosystems play a critical role in the carbon cycle, helping to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in roots, soil, and the forest floor. But climate-driven increases in wildfires, flooding, pests, and diseases can limit the ability of an ecosystem to provide this important service. Nature provides us with water, clean air and food, and raw materials for medicines, industry and buildings. Our crops rely on insect pollination and the complex biological processes that create soil. Enjoying parks, landscapes and wildlife improves our health and well-being. The most robust approach to helping fish, wildlife, and plants adapt to climate change is to conserve enough variety and sufficient habitat to sustain diverse and healthy populations. The most vulnerable ecosystems include coastal ecosystems, alpine areas, rainforests, fragmented terrestrial ecosystems and areas vulnerable to fire or low freshwater availability. It controls essential ecological processes and promotes lives. Involved in the recycling of nutrients between biotic and abiotic components. It helps in maintaining the usual flow of energy in an ecosystem including- Carbon Cycle, Energy Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle, Oxygen Cycle, and Water Cycle. The four components of climate change adaptation are addressing what makes human and non-human populations vulnerable, improving the ability to respond to climate issues, managing the risk of climate change, and directly confronting climate change through collective and individual action. When microorganisms decompose organic matter, they use the carbon and nutrients in the organic matter for their own growth. They release excess nutrients into the soil where they can be taken up by plants. The main effects of the presence of microorganisms in the soil are: Improved plant nutrition. Microorganisms increase the source of nitrogen in the soil, or they can supply it directly to the plant, as they have the ability to take and set nitrogen from the atmosphere. Almost every chemical reaction in soil is done by microbes and makes nutrients available for plant and crops uptake. They play an active role in soil fertility hence all of the bio-geochemical cycle mediated by microbes such as nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon cycle etc. Within food plant cropping systems, microorganisms provide vital functions and ecosystem services, such as biological pest and disease control, promotion of plant growth and crop quality, and biodegradation of organic matter and pollutants. They increase soil fertility by incorporating air, minerals and nitrogenous compounds. They contribute in increasing plant growth by providing essential elements, minerals that plants cannot utilize by their Owen. Microorganisms decompose organic matter to simpler form that can be easily uptake by plants. Microbes can make nutrients and minerals in the soil available to plants, produce hormones that spur growth, stimulate the plant immune system and trigger or dampen stress responses.
The atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, yet many organism starve in the midst of this plenty. The small Nitrogen machines known as nitrogen fixing bacteria that develop symbiotic relationships with legumes, does the magic. They develop a symbiotic relationship with legumes and form nodules in the roots where all this action happens. So the need for other sources of nitrogen becomes of less importance once this ecosystem service is achieved.
When microorganisms decompose organic matter, they use the carbon and nutrients in the organic matter for their own growth. They release excess nutrients into the soil where they can be taken up by plants. The main effects of the presence of microorganisms in the soil are: Improved plant nutrition. Microorganisms increase the source of nitrogen in the soil, or they can supply it directly to the plant, as they have the ability to take and set nitrogen from the atmosphere. Almost every chemical reactions in soil is done by microbes and make nutrients available for plant and crops uptake. They play an active role in soil fertility hence all of the bio-geochemical cycle mediated by microbes such as nitrogen ,phosphorus, carbon cycle etc. Microbes can make nutrients and minerals in the soil available to plants, produce hormones that spur growth, stimulate the plant immune system and trigger or dampen stress responses. Soil microbes play a key role in determining the nutrient content of our food through the mineralization of degradable organic compounds to inorganic forms that are readily available to crops. The diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil. The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials, including industrial and municipal by-products and atmospheric deposits. Beneficial soil microbes perform fundamental functions such as nutrient cycling, breaking down crop residues, and stimulating plant growth. While the role of microbes to maintain soil health and contribute to crop performance is clear, the soil biological component is extremely difficult to observe and manage. Ecosystems contribute to mitigation because of their capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere and to store it. Ecosystems contribute also to adaptation because they provide services that can help people adapt to both current climate hazards and future climate change. Biodiversity plays an important role in regulating the climate, thus making a key contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation. At the same time, climate change affects ecosystem dynamics and the distribution and abundance of species and habitats.
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