Study: Soil biodiversity of green areas key to maintain ecosystem

VARANASI: A study conducted by an international team of researchers including Jay Prakash Verma and Arpan Mukherjee from Banaras Hindu University, has suggested that maintaining the soil biodiversity of city parks/gardens or green areas is important to maintain the ecosystem of urban areas. The findings of the study have been published in the internationally reputed scientific journal “Nature Ecology and Evolution”.BHU’s contribution to this research was funded by the Department of Science and technology (DST), Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB) and the Institution of Eminence Initiative, BHU.
Verma is working as a senior assistant professor at the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in BHU, while Mukherjee is pursuing his PhD under his supervision. Verma said that city parks and gardens support a rich and diverse community of soil organisms including bacteria, fungi, protists and invertebrates, which often go unnoticed compared with eye-catching plants and animals. “When we think about city parks, we often think of the recreational services they provide, which support our mental and physical health. However, city parks are semi-natural environments and the maintenance of healthy and vibrant parks and gardens require a huge effort from all stakeholders involved”, said Verma.
According to him, in this study, soil samples were collected from the city parks and gardens of 56 municipalities across 16 countries. The countries include India, China, Australia, Argentina, US, Chile, Spain, Nigeria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Portugal, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Israel and Estonia. During the study 537 different microbial phylotypes (microbial diversity) in the soil were identified. The soil is called a living thing because of microbes and these microbial properties of soil help maintain the ecosystem. The microbes are the ones which define the properties and health of the soil. “The soils with larger biodiversity also have more biogeochemical activities to allow the flow of energy and matter through the system. This biodiversity plays a fundamental role in supporting ‘one Health policies and the ecosystem services’ that are the core of the sustainable development goals,” said Verma, adding that the soil taxonomic and genetic diversity is the fundamental for supporting multiple ecosystem functions. This study provides novel evidence that soil taxonomic and genetic diversity are positively correlated with multiple dimensions of ecosystem functions -carbon sequestration and water regulation to plant pathogen control, and antibiotic resistance regulation in urban parks and gardens, he added. He said that cities play a key role in the pursuit of development. They are the hubs of commercial, construction, manufacturing and in fact industrial activities. However, this also takes a toll on the environment and the ecosystem of urban areas. Increased human activity and urbanization is seen as the main reason for the deteriorating environment, particularly in cities, resulting in calls for more and concerted efforts to preserve it, he said.