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Already the world’s driest continent, Australia and its agriculture can ill afford to suffer the negative effects of decreasing rainfall as a fallout of climate change and variability.

However, researchers at The University of Western Australia (UWA) have evidence that changing rainfall patterns may increase the diversity of soil microorganisms. Increased microbial diversity may have a positive impact on the natural landscape and its agriculture.

According to Assistant Professor Deirdre Gleeson, soil has the highest microbial biodiversity of any habitat on earth and humanity’s future may depend on this biodiversity.

“We found bacterial diversity increased when water content decreased and we think this is because drier soils create conditions where the bacteria that would usually decline and disappear from soils don’t have to compete with stronger species for nutrients,” she said.

While knowing that microorganisms have a vital role in agriculture by releasing nutrients from organic matter and emitting and consuming greenhouse gases, scientists were previously unsure what controlled the biodiversity of soil microorganisms.

Recent research at UWA’s Institute of Agriculture and School of Earth and Environment by Assistant Professor Gleeson, Associate Professor Daniel Murphy and PhD student Jennifer Carson suggests water may be the key.

Funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Projects grant, the team found that climate change, in particular changes in rainfall, may influence soil biodiversity.

“Climate change is projected to make rainfall more variable and this may influence the diversity of soil microorganisms, including those responsible for greenhouse gas emissions from soil,” Assistant Professor Gleeson explained.

The findings are part of a larger research project investigating how the ‘architecture’ of soil particles contributes to the biodiversity and function of soil microorganisms.

This research will assess how soil structure contributes to the formation of micro-sites that may favour specific microbial populations, in particular those responsible for producing such greenhouse gases as nitrous oxide.

Media references

Authorised by ‘The UWA Institute of Agriculture’ and issued on its behalf by Brendon Cant & Associates (+61) 8 9384 1122

Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique, Director, The UWA Institute of Agriculture, (+61) 0411 155 396

Assistant Professor Deirdre Gleeson (+61) 8 6488 3593