Desertification Impacts on Soil Microbiomes and Plant Growth

Soil serves as the habitat for microorganisms and the medium for plant growth. Soil microbiomes contribute immensely to ecosystem services and maintenance of ecological balance through various beneficial activities such as the breakdown of organic matter, cycling of nutrients, keeping soil fertility and plant health, as well as protecting plants against environmental stresses, diseases, and pathogens. Soil microbial communities can survive different environments including harsh ones like deserts. Extremophiles such as bacteria and archaea are the first groups of soil microbiomes to invade deserts due to their ability to survive extreme conditions. Deserts and the process of desertification have great effects on the soil microbiomes and plant growth which include the decline in diversity, abundance, and functional characteristics of the soil microbial communities and plants or vegetation cover. Understanding the impacts of desertification is important towards predicting and regulating microbial processes. Some microbiomes can adapt and survive desert environments and even have the ability to mitigate the impacts. These have great potential which if properly harnessed can be employed to improve the growth and survival of other organisms, particularly plants in the deserts and other extreme environments.