On the size distribution of soil bacterial communities and why it matters?
Professor Dani Or is the Nevada Engineering Distinguished Professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Nevada Reno, NV, USA.
Abstract: Microscale water dynamics in fragmented soil environments regulate bacterial dispersal, nutrient diffusion, and access to resources. In this seminar, Dani Or will present a modeling and experimental framework for understanding the size and spatial distribution of soil bacterial communities under varying moisture and carbon conditions. The results suggest that most bacterial communities are very small and follow characteristic log-normal size distributions. Dr. Or will discuss how these patterns influence the formation of anoxic microsites and may help researchers interpret or “unmix” soil bacterial diversity from bulk samples.
About: Dani Or is the Nevada Engineering Distinguished Professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Nevada Reno, NV, USA. He is an emeritus professor of Soil and Terrestrial Environmental Physics with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland. His recent research focuses on modeling effects of wildfires on soil properties and catchment hydrology and on quantifying soil structure in natural and managed systems. His research focuses on mass and energy transport in porous media; mechanics of landslides and avalanches; evaporation from porous surfaces, and on biophysical processes and biological activity in soil. Dr. Or has authored and coauthored over 340 ISI publications, co-authored a book, and over 500 proceeding papers and abstracts. Dr. Or is the former Editor in
Chief of the Vadose Zone Journal, recipient of the Kirkham Soil Physics Award (2001), 2004 Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America, Chair of the 2008 Gordon Research Conference on Flow and Transport, and 2010 Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He was selected 2013 Birdsall-Dreiss distinguished lecturer; recipient of Helmholtz International Fellow Award (2013); 2014 Fellow of Geological Society of America; the 2017 recipient of the European Geosciences Union Dalton Medal, the 2018 AGU Langbein lecturer, and recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering 2022.