Microbial ecology
Microbial ecology studies how microorganisms interact with one another and their environments, and how those interactions shape ecosystems.
Biogeochemical cycle: The movement and transformation of chemical elements through organisms and Earth's physical systems. Microbial metabolisms drive many transformations in carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and other element cycles.
Microorganism: An organism too small to be seen clearly without magnification, including bacteria, archaea, many fungi, and protists. Microorganisms are the diverse organisms whose interactions define this field.
Human microbiome: The microorganisms and their genetic material associated with the human body. It applies ecological ideas to microbial communities living on and within people.
Microbial dark matter: Microorganisms known mainly from environmental genetic data, with little or no laboratory characterization. Much microbial diversity remains uncultured, limiting direct knowledge of its ecology.
Microbial food web: A network of feeding relationships among microorganisms and other small organisms in an ecosystem. It traces how microbial production and consumption move energy through communities.
Microbial community: The populations of microorganisms living and interacting in a particular place. Community composition and interactions are central units of ecological study.
Rhizosphere: The soil region directly influenced by plant roots and their associated organisms. Root-associated microbes affect plant nutrition, growth, and responses to stress.
Rare biosphere: The low-abundance organisms present in a microbial community. Their ecological roles and potential to become abundant remain difficult to establish.
Quorum sensing: Cell-to-cell communication in which microbes detect signaling molecules and alter behavior with population density. This signaling lets microbial populations coordinate behaviors that affect community structure.
Microbial diversity: The variety of microbial taxa, genes, and ecological roles in a place or sample. Diversity describes the range of organisms and functions available within microbial ecosystems.