SYDNEY, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- A new body will unite the environmental expertise of researchers globally to assess and prioritize microbes for conservation, according to a statement released Monday by Australia's Monash University.
Microbes, which include bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae and archaea, are invisible to the human eye, but play a huge role, shaping ecosystems, producing food and regulating disease, it said.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Microbial Conservation Specialist Group, outlined in Nature Microbiology, argues that microbes are as important to the Earth's biodiversity as plants, animals and people.
"Most people have a purely negative view of microbes primarily as pathogens, but most of them are good for us and we depend on them for almost every aspect of our lives," said the group's vice chair for climate action, Monash University Professor Chris Greening.
Despite its importance, microbial life had been largely absent from global conservation efforts until now, Greening said. "We're disrupting them at colossal scales."
Citing coral bleaching as an example of microbes at risk, Greening said corals rely on a partnership with photosynthetic microbes that provide them with most of their energy. However, global warming disrupts this symbiosis, causing loss of the microbes, bleaching and death for the coral.
"This is why the Great Barrier Reef is collapsing, and since much of the damage is already locked in, the best hope for recovery and resilience lies in microbial solutions," he said.
Human activity can turn beneficial microbes harmful, Greening said, citing South Australia's ongoing algal bloom as an example of the devastation when microbes were disrupted.
The group will develop microbe-specific Red List of endangered species criteria and map projects such as microbe-assisted coral protection and soil microbiome restoration, according to the research. ■
