The contribution of molecular biology techniques to our understanding of microbial biodiversity in soils and its functions

Since the rise of industrialisation, urbanisation and intensive agriculture, the soil has been increasingly subjected to numerous fluctuations in environmental conditions, leading to changes in the taxonomic diversity and functionality of indigenous microbial communities. Consequently, the question of the functional significance of these losses or changes in biodiversity, in terms of ecosystems’ ability to maintain the functions and services on which humanity depends, is now central. In this context, one of the challenges in microbial ecology is to better define and understand the processes that generate and maintain microbial diversity in soils, as well as the link between this diversity and ecosystem services. In this presentation, we aimed to describe past, present and those yet to be developed in microbial ecology to better describe and understand the mechanisms governing the regulation and distribution of soil microbial diversity, with the aim of improving our ability to translate this diversity into soil biological functioning and, more broadly, into ecosystem services.