water, and air. The ecology and geochemistry of microorganisms are topics of
growing importance within the larger field of geobiology. Although studies of
microbial diversity and phylogeny have traditionally benefited from the efforts of
biogeochemists and other geoscientists, the last few years have witnessed a
dramatic expansion of the interest in this area by a large community of
geochemists, soil scientists, and ecologists. These efforts would be strengthened
by multidisciplinary approaches that integrate geochemical and microbiological
insights. Such efforts promise substantial gains in understanding the following:
• microbial interactions with minerals, mineral surfaces, nanophases and
materials, metals, and life-sustaining elements,
• impact of microbial activities on the natural and human-influenced
environment over spatial scales ranging from atomic to global, and
• geochemical and phylogenetic records of interactions between
environmental change and the evolution, diversity, function, and ecology
of microorganisms.
Studies of microbial-environment interactions are currently funded by a
number of government agencies. For example, water quality and related
engineering issues are supported through EPA, USDA, and NSF, whereas NSF’s
Life in Extreme Environments and NASA’s Astrobiology programs fund studies
focused on life in unusual habitats. Yet, this support is too narrow and targeted to
establish a robust basis for collaborations among the various disciplinary
communities. The tools and insights that have recently become available furnish
an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize the understanding of microbial life
in geologic environments and the roles that microorganisms play as geological,
pedological, and geochemical agents.
Recommendation: EAR should seek new resources to promote integrative
studies of the way in which microorganisms interact with the Earth’s
surface environment, including present and past relationships between
geological processes and the evolution and ecology of microbial life.
The Environmental Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry special emphasis
area, initiated with EAR participation in 1994, sponsored a wide array of research
within environmental science and engineering, including studies of microbial
activity in an environmental context. The research proposed here would build on
the success of EGB, with a sharpened focus on microbial agents in the
environment. The committee notes that support for the study of microbialmineral interactions could be broadened through the new interagency
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
106
About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the
original work has been recomposed from XML files created
from the original paper book, not from the original
typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths,
word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific
formatting, however, cannot be retained,
and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted.
Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative
version for attribution.
growing importance within the larger field of geobiology. Although studies of
microbial diversity and phylogeny have traditionally benefited from the efforts of
biogeochemists and other geoscientists, the last few years have witnessed a
dramatic expansion of the interest in this area by a large community of
geochemists, soil scientists, and ecologists. These efforts would be strengthened
by multidisciplinary approaches that integrate geochemical and microbiological
insights. Such efforts promise substantial gains in understanding the following:
• microbial interactions with minerals, mineral surfaces, nanophases and
materials, metals, and life-sustaining elements,
• impact of microbial activities on the natural and human-influenced
environment over spatial scales ranging from atomic to global, and
• geochemical and phylogenetic records of interactions between
environmental change and the evolution, diversity, function, and ecology
of microorganisms.
Studies of microbial-environment interactions are currently funded by a
number of government agencies. For example, water quality and related
engineering issues are supported through EPA, USDA, and NSF, whereas NSF’s
Life in Extreme Environments and NASA’s Astrobiology programs fund studies
focused on life in unusual habitats. Yet, this support is too narrow and targeted to
establish a robust basis for collaborations among the various disciplinary
communities. The tools and insights that have recently become available furnish
an unprecedented opportunity to revolutionize the understanding of microbial life
in geologic environments and the roles that microorganisms play as geological,
pedological, and geochemical agents.
Recommendation: EAR should seek new resources to promote integrative
studies of the way in which microorganisms interact with the Earth’s
surface environment, including present and past relationships between
geological processes and the evolution and ecology of microbial life.
The Environmental Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry special emphasis
area, initiated with EAR participation in 1994, sponsored a wide array of research
within environmental science and engineering, including studies of microbial
activity in an environmental context. The research proposed here would build on
the success of EGB, with a sharpened focus on microbial agents in the
environment. The committee notes that support for the study of microbialmineral interactions could be broadened through the new interagency
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
106
About this PDF file: This new digital representation of the
original work has been recomposed from XML files created
from the original paper book, not from the original
typesetting files. Page breaks are true to the original; line lengths,
word breaks, heading styles, and other typesetting-specific
formatting, however, cannot be retained,
and some typographic errors may have been accidentally inserted.
Please use the print version of this publication as the authoritative
version for attribution.