Integrating soil microbial communities into fundamental ecology, conservation, and restoration : examples from Australia

Microbes support all life forms of the biosphere, contributing to nutrient cycling and climate regulation, with crucial roles in primary production, food production, and planetary health (Anthony et al., 2023). By integrating microbial processes into current ecological paradigms, we have the opportunity to enhance the resilience of the biosphere to environmental change (Averill et al., 2022). A joint conference between the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) and the Society of Conservation Biology Oceania (SCBO) in Wollongong, Australia, provided an excellent platform to hold a plant-soil ecology symposium that focussed on three key issues. First, to summarise the latest advances in documenting the microbial diversity from Australian ecosystems; second, to establish the ecological interactions that influence microbial diversity and functioning; and third, to harness soil microbial communities to inform fundamental plant ecology, as well as conservation and restoration practices.