permaculture

[Georg Parlow <g.parlow@gmx.at>]

> The researchers found that just two percent of all bacterial taxa—or around
> 500 individual species—consistently accounted for almost half of the soil
> bacterial communities worldwide.
> 
> 
> Having been identified as both dominant and ubiquitous, these predictably
> common bacteria can now be targeted for future study.

Hm, this kind of science is a double edged sword, IMHO. While it might be 
good to gather all this data, and eventually maybe aid in the rehabilitation 
of destroyed soils and possibly other things as well, I am also sniffing 
dangers in there. One certaily being somehow similar to the vitamin and 
nutrient thing a few decades ago. Just because the other 98% of taxa are 
statistically represented in just very tiny amounts, some of them -or even 
most of them, who knows?- might be just as important for those microbioma to 
stay groovy. Also in some local soils some members of these 98% might 
comprise the bulk of specimen present. 

Statistics is a bitch. Unfortunately way too many scientists used to 
oversimplify or transfer mechanistic models onto natural processes, luring 
them to jumping to conclusions. But let’s hope these days are over…

Georg