Supporting urban greenspace with microbial symbiosis

How can we better understand, protect, and appreciate the role bacteria and fungi play in keeping urban plant communities healthy?

While cities are stressful environments for plants, symbiotic fungi and bacteria can provide nutrients, water, and help plants to cope with urban stress.

The authors aim to:

• Identify solutions to help plants grow in stressful environments
• Better incorporate plant–microbe symbiosis in green architecture

In natural ecosystems, plants live in symbiosis with fungi, bacteria, and other microbes which can help alleviate stress. Plant communities in cities help maintain the health and stability of urban ecosystems and their inhabitants. Specifically, plants in cities provide ecological benefits including  cooling urban “heat islands” and providing habitats for other plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Many key stressors  can be mitigated by symbiotic fungi and bacteria, including dependency on fertilizers, pathogens, drought, fewer pollinators, pollution, and reduced plant biodiversity.

The authors point out that, as is often the case, past research has focused on aboveground activity.  While the benefits of greenspace have been well-recognized, the soil life that lies beneath urban environments is rarely recognized for its important ecosystem functions. The authors stress that the microbial communities that support these spaces have been largely ignored.

Underground microbial communities of fungi and bacteria are also responsible for nutrient cycling, carbon storage, pathogen protection, and provide key functions leading to ecosystem stability.