The Role of the Microbiome in Plant and Soil Health in a Changing Climate

Know about the book -

The Role of the Microbiome in Plant and Soil Health in a Changing Climate is written by Amita Kaundal and published by Frontiers Media SA. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 2832555543 (ISBN 10) and 9782832555545 (ISBN 13).

In the past few decades, climate change has become one of the biggest threats to the Earth’s ecosystem and biodiversity. Several environmental stress factors such as salinity and drought have already threatened the viability of sustainable agriculture, an alarm bell to researchers. Soil salinity hampers development through its effects on the morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes associated with plant growth. Drought, on the other hand, affects the productivity of crops. It is anticipated that by 2050, drought will be the leading cause of hampered crop production due to increases in the magnitude of climate change. These changes present a formidable challenge when it comes to feeding a global population, which will require an 0.84% annual increase in crop production. Climate change-induced environmental changes and the continuously growing world population, therefore, demand renewed efforts to increase food production. In this regard, the role of the phytobiome in assuring soil-plant health will be an important issue across crop-wide and area-wide research. A plant's microbiome plays an important role in guiding plant growth and development. Plants adapted to extreme conditions, such as those in desert or saline environments, harbor microbes in their rhizosphere or endosphere that help to provide the required physiological resistance necessary to survive in those environments. Microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and viruses associated with plant roots increase plants' resistance to various abiotic and biotic stresses. Microorganisms also moderate stress for crop plants, paving the way for sustainable agriculture.