BG Biogeosciences BG Biogeosciences 1726-4189 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/bg-10-3983-2013 The role of microorganisms at different stages of ecosystem development for soil formation Schulz S. 1 Brankatschk R. 2 Dümig A. 3 Kögel-Knabner I. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7216-8326 3 4 Schloter M. 1 Zeyer J. 2 Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Research Unit Environmental Genomics, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany ETH Zurich, Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Universitätsstr. 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland Technische Universität München, Lehrstuhl für Bodenkunde, 85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany Technische Universität München, Institute for Advanced Study, Lichtenbergstrasse 2a, 85748 Garching, Germany 18 06 2013 10 6 3983 3996 Copyright: © 2013 S. Schulz et al. 2013 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/10/3983/2013/bg-10-3983-2013.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/10/3983/2013/bg-10-3983-2013.pdf

Soil formation is the result of a complex network of biological as well as chemical and physical processes. The role of soil microbes is of high interest, since they are responsible for most biological transformations and drive the development of stable and labile pools of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and other nutrients, which facilitate the subsequent establishment of plant communities. Forefields of receding glaciers provide unique chronosequences of different soil development stages and are ideal ecosystems to study the interaction of bacteria, fungi and archaea with their abiotic environment. In this review we give insights into the role of microbes for soil development. The results presented are based on studies performed within the Collaborative Research Program DFG SFB/TRR 38 (<a href="http://www.tu-cottbus.de/ecosystem"_target="blank">http://www.tu-cottbus.de/ecosystem</a> ) and are supplemented by data from other studies. The review focusses on the microbiology of major steps of soil formation. Special attention is given to the development of nutrient cycles on the formation of biological soil crusts (BSCs) and on the establishment of plant–microbe interactions.

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