Fungi, bacteria and animals form complex communities in soil and interact with plant roots, organic matter and minerals. Soil organisms play an important role in agriculture and forestry and are central to the regulation of carbon and nutrient cycling in ecosystems.
A better understanding of soil biology makes it possible to better predict how ecosystems respond to environmental changes related to forestry, pollution and climate change.
Due to the challenges of studying underground organisms and processes, there are still large gaps in knowledge and a lot to discover!
There are large amounts of carbon in the soil that can reduce or increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Soil biology research is important for understanding how soil organisms and processes affect soil carbon stocks and thus the ongoing climate change. This research helps us to better predict how the climate may develop in the future and affect ecosystems.
Research also provides knowledge about how agriculture and forestry affect soil biodiversity and the soil processes that these organisms drive, such as nutrient cycling.
Our research can answer questions such as:
Our research ranges from molecular biology, bioinformatics and biochemistry, via microbiology and community ecology, to ecosystem ecology.
The picture shows ectomycorrhizal fungi mycelium in symbiosis with pine roots. The white dots are root tips covered with fungal mycelium. A large continuous mycelial individual is seen, but also some smaller mycelia. Photo: Karina Clemmensen.
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We are prominent in DNA- and RNA-based analysis of fungal communities. These relatively new methods offer unprecedented opportunities to study which species are present in the soil and, through studies of gene expression (so-called metatranscriptomics), also the properties of these species and the processes they drive in the soil.
Most of our research is field-based, as we mainly study the organisms in their natural environment.
We have several international and national research collaborations, including with Oslo University and INRA (French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment) in France.
We also collaborate actively with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the Swedish Forest Agency and WWF. Several large forestry companies follow our work.
The research is mainly funded by Formas and the Swedish Research Council.
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Professor Björn Lindahl |
https://svamparisverige.se/ is a web tool showing the distribution of different fungal species in Sweden based on DNA analysis in connection with the Forest Soil Inventory.
