Contact
Professor Sara Hallin
Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology
sara.hallin@slu.se, 018-673209
Soil Microbiology
Last changed: 03 February 2025
Microorganisms are at the center of all major biogeochemical processes on Earth, providing valuable ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, climate regulation and degradation of organic matter and pollutants. Proper stewardship of these services requires a scientific understanding of the ecological processes that govern the diversity and functioning of microbial communities.
The Nitrogen Cycle – Functional microbial ecology
Nitrogen (N) is a primary nutrient for all living organisms, and the cycling of N is critical for sustaining life on Earth. However, the anthropogenic discharge of reactive N into the biosphere has led to an imbalance in the global N cycle, causing eutrophication and emission of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Microbial communities that mediate different N-cycle processes ultimately determine whether N is gained or lost in an ecosystem. Understanding how abiotic or biotic factors shape the diversity, structure, and functioning of these communities is critical for predicting the fate of N in Earth’s ecosystems.
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Sampled bioreactor material from Malmberget. Photo: Maria Hellman.
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Monica Conthe and Lea Hittorf set up a PCR reaction. Photo: Daniel Graf.
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Drilling ice holes in Kiruna to take water samples. Photo: Maria Hellman.
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Denitrification is measured in microcosms. Photo: Daniel Graf.
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Our aim is to address fundamental questions on the causes and consequences of biodiversity within microbial functional guilds. We also apply this knowledge to solve specific problems relating to sustainable agriculture and bioremediation of N-polluted soils and water.
Our approach is to implement a functional ecology framework, where microbial communities are defined by the functions they perform. We use nitrifying and denitrifying microbial communities as model systems to study the link between microbial community dynamics and ecosystem processes, as well as identify key organisms and factors that control N-transformation processes.
Our expertise is in the implementation of molecular tools and bioinformatics of functional genes in combination with activity measurements and statistical modeling to study microbial functional guilds that drive N cycle processes in various ecosystems.
The group
See a list with our researchers here:
The soil microbiology group