Ecosystem function and resilience across biomes: microbial mediation, dryland productivity and coastal wetland services

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Introduction

Description

Soil microorganisms drive critical ecosystem processes, including nitrogen fixation, decomposition and carbon turnover. Microbial diversity influences the efficiency and stability of these processes, with diverse communities often enhancing ecosystem resilience. Functional redundancy ensures that key processes continue despite environmental fluctuations, while specialized taxa provide unique functions under stress conditions, such as drought or salinity. Plants and microbes form intricate networks that mediate ecosystem function. Mycorrhizal fungi, for example, enhance water and nutrient uptake, supporting plant growth under stress. Rhizosphere bacteria can induce systemic resistance to pathogens and modulate hormonal signaling, improving plant tolerance to abiotic stressors. Legacy effects of land use can reprogram plant physiology via microbial communities, influencing productivity and resilience over time. Environmental stress, such as prolonged drought or flooding, alters microbial community composition and function (Poulter B, et al. 2014). Pre-exposure to stress can increase microbial resistance, creating an "ecosystem memory" that enhances resilience to future disturbances. Such microbial mediation is particularly important in ecosystems where plant productivity is limited by water or nutrient availability.

Drylands cover approximately 40% of Earth's terrestrial surface and are characterized by low precipitation, high temperature variability and nutrient-limited soils. Despite these constraints, drylands contribute significantly to global net primary productivity, largely due to microbial and plant adaptations that optimize water use and carbon assimilation. In drylands, microbial communities enhance soil structure, water retention and nutrient cycling. Biological soil crusts, composed of cyanobacteria, fungi and lichens, stabilize soils and facilitate nitrogen fixation (Wang S, et al. 2023). Plant species exhibit physiological adaptations, including deep rooting systems, osmotic adjustment and symbiotic associations with mycorrhizal fungi, enabling survival and productivity under water-limited conditions. Drylands provide essential services, including carbon sequestration, grazing resources and biodiversity habitats. Their disproportionate contribution to global productivity underscores the need for sustainable management practices, including controlled grazing, restoration of degraded areas and microbial augmentation to maintain ecosystem function under increasing climate variability.

Coastal wetlands, including salt marshes, mangroves and tidal flats, provide multiple ecosystem services. They act as natural buffers against storm surges, regulate nutrient and sediment flows and serve as critical habitats for fisheries and migratory species. Wetlands also play a pivotal role in carbon sequestration, storing organic carbon in soils and vegetation and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Wetland soil microbial communities drive biogeochemical cycling, including carbon, nitrogen and sulfur transformations. Microbial processes influence greenhouse gas fluxes, including CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O emissions and modulate nutrient availability for plant communities (Narayan S, et al. 2017). Vegetation type and inundation patterns strongly shape microbial composition and function, demonstrating the importance of integrating microbial ecology into wetland management. Coastal wetlands face significant anthropogenic pressures, including land reclamation, pollution and sea-level rise. Restoration strategies that consider hydrological regimes, plant–microbe interactions and nutrient dynamics enhance resilience and the provision of ecosystem services. Participatory approaches involving local communities and stakeholders further promote sustainable management and conservation success. Comparative studies across biomes reveal convergent mechanisms of resilience.

Conclusion

Acknowledgement

Conflict of Interest

References

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