Subject: Re: [permaculture] First Global Atlas of Soil Bacteria | Technology Networks
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2018 22:02:15 +0100
> 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…