Environmental microbiology

Environmental microbiology studies microorganisms in natural and human-altered environments, including their diversity, interactions, and effects on ecosystems and human activities.

Bioremediation: The use of organisms, especially microorganisms, to remove or neutralize environmental contaminants. Microbial metabolism can break down pollutants or convert them into less harmful forms.
Biogeochemical cycle: The movement and transformation of chemical elements through organisms and environmental reservoirs. Microorganisms mediate many of the transformations that move elements through ecosystems.
Microbial ecology: The study of interactions among microorganisms and between microbes and their environments. It provides the ecological framework for understanding environmental microbial communities.
Methane cycle: The production, consumption, and movement of methane among biological and environmental reservoirs. Microbes both generate methane and consume it before it reaches the atmosphere.
Wastewater treatment: The removal of contaminants from wastewater through physical, chemical, and biological processes. Treatment plants rely on microbial communities to remove organic matter and nutrients.
Nitrogen fixation: The enzymatic reduction of atmospheric nitrogen gas to biologically usable ammonia. Certain environmental microbes make inert atmospheric nitrogen available to ecosystems.
Metagenomics: The analysis of genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples. It detects community members and their potential functions without requiring cultivation.
Ocean acidification: The decline in ocean pH caused mainly by seawater absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It alters microbial habitats and contrasts with microbial processes that regulate ocean chemistry.
Microbial fuel cell: An electrochemical device in which microorganisms transfer electrons from organic matter to an electrode. It turns microbial activity in waste or sediments into electrical current.
Denitrification: Microbial reduction of nitrate or nitrite to gaseous nitrogen compounds, often under oxygen-limited conditions. This process returns fixed nitrogen to the atmosphere and can produce nitrous oxide.

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