DDD Conference

Cyanobacterial Soil Amendment and Restoration

Convener: Nina Kamennaya, BGU

The global food security is pressured by multiple threats, such as constantly growing food demand, diminishing biodiversity, sea-level rise, soil impoverishment, and climate change-enhanced desertification. Recent experimental studies suggest that at least some of the soil-related threats can be mitigated using cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are fast-growing photosynthetic bacteria that utilize energy of the Sun to assimilate inorganic carbon, whereas diazotrophic strains can also assimilate atmospheric nitrogen. Because many strains of cyanobacteria tolerate extreme environmental stresses, such as high light, salinity, extreme fluctuations of temperature, and desiccation, they are easier to cultivate. Furthermore, these capacities make cyanobacteria suitable for applications in harsh environments, such as impoverished and salted agricultural soils, degraded pastures, polluted areas and drylands undergoing desertification. Contribution of cyanobacteria to the soil restoration effort is steadily growing owing to isolation and domestication of new strains, refinement of cultivation conditions, and new application methods and approaches. This session will focus on recent advances in soil restoration and improvement practices that involve cyanobacteria.

Showing all 5 results

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    Cyanobacterial Soil Amendment and Restoration

    1. Dr. Wendy Williams

    Cyanobacteria-Rich Biocrusts Are Essential Components of Sustainable Rangelands in the Australian Savanna Biome – and Farmers Need to Know About Them

    The University of Queensland, Australia

     

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    Cyanobacterial Soil Amendment and Restoration

    2. Prof. Nir Keren

    Photosynthetic Life in Extreme Environments: How Desert Sand Crust Cyanobacteria Tune Photosynthesis During Hydration/Desiccation Cycles
    The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
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    Cyanobacterial Soil Amendment and Restoration

    3. Dr. Eli Zaady

    Restoration of Cyanobacterial Crust as an Interface in the Critical Zone for Stabilizing Sandy Soil Surface

    Volcani Institute, Agricultural Research Organization, Israel

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    Cyanobacterial Soil Amendment and Restoration

    4. Prof. Ferran Garcia-Pichel

    Crustivoltaics for Arid Soil Restoration at Scale

    Arizona State University, USA

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    Cyanobacterial Soil Amendment and Restoration

    5. Dr. Nina Kamennaya

    Could Cyanobacterial Polysaccharides Increase Efficiency and Sustainability of Dryland Agriculture?

    Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

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