Microbiome Drivers of Ecosystem Function

Book excerpt: Microbiome Drivers of Ecosystem Function focuses on the advancements in microbial technologies towards harnessing the microbiome for improved crop productivity and health that are at the frontier of agricultural sciences. It provides insights into the diversity of endophytic microbiomes and their potential utility in agricultural production.Increased crop yield through chemical interventions have limit thresholds and alternative, natural and/or integrated approaches are increasingly needed. Microbial inoculants among the ways in which food production efficiency can be improved. Plant growth-promoting soil organisms increase net crop uptake of soil nutrients, resulting in larger crops and higher yields of harvested food. These and other symbiotic associations between plants and microbes can ultimately be exploited for the increased food production necessary to feed the world, in addition to creating safer farming techniques that minimize ecological disruption.As a volume in the Microbiome Research in Plants and Soil series, Microbiome Drivers of Ecosystem Function serves as an ideal reference for researchers and students in the fields of agricultural biotechnology, biochemistry, environmental science, plant biology, agricultural sciences, and agricultural engineering. - Provides insights on engineered microbes in sustainable agriculture, recent biotechnological developments, and future prospects - Introduces microbes as chief ecological engineers in reinstating equilibrium in degraded ecosystems - Presents the current state and development, as well as future challenges in studying plant-microbe interactions - Discusses endophytic microbiomes and other microbial consortium with multifunctional plant growth-promoting attributes