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Microbiology of Extreme Soils pp 71–84Cite as

Biodiversity: Extracting Lessons from Extreme Soils

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Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 13))

The organisms that live in extreme environments have justifiably captured the imagination of people fascinated with the detection of life and exploration. Reasons for this captivation vary. Some see exploration of these organisms and their environment as a scientific area to provide insight about life on earth, whereas others see economic potential. Whether the extreme environment is human-caused, such as a polluted soil, or a more natural environment (aquatic hot springs, ice, ocean depths, atmosphere, or land), unravelling and understanding the resident organisms, their mechanisms of survival, and the intricate relationship between the habitat and other species, can help us understand life on this planet and elsewhere. Because of global changes, many aspects of extreme environments, such as the identity and types of organisms and communities, the biological traits that allow evolutionary success in a harsh environment, the patterns of distribution of these organisms, the factors controlling their distribution, and their influence on and feedback from ecosystem processes, have increasing relevance to all terrestrial ecosystems. This chapter examines how extreme soils as a habitat for biota can inform our general knowledge of terrestrial biodiversity in many other ecosystems. A brief background on soil biodiversity from other terrestrial systems is presented to set the stage for lessons derived from studies of extreme soils.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1499

    Diana H. Wall

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  1. Diana H. Wall
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  1. Département de phytologie, Pavillon Charles-Eugène Marchand, 1030, avenue de la Médecine Université Laval, Québec (Québec), G1V 0A6, Canada

    Patrice Dion

  2. National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, 226001, India

    Chandra Shekhar Nautiyal

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Wall, D.H. (2008). Biodiversity: Extracting Lessons from Extreme Soils. In: Dion, P., Nautiyal, C.S. (eds) Microbiology of Extreme Soils. Soil Biology, vol 13. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74231-9_4

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