About this episode

This episode explores the aerobiome, highlighting the diverse microbial communities in the atmosphere and their ecological significance.

Most microbiome research focuses on soil, oceans, or hosts. But the atmosphere itself harbors diverse communities of bacteria and fungi that move between ecosystems. This episode explores a recent mBio study comparing airborne microbial communities above a subalpine forest and a grassland in Colorado. The conversation unpacks what the "aerobiome" is, how scientists actually sample microbes from the air, and why height, time of day, and season matter. The study reveals striking differences between fungi and bacteria, with fungi showing strong site-specific structure and environmental sensitivity, while bacteria appear more ubiquitous. They also discuss "vertical filtering," long-distance dispersal, and what these findings mean for pathogen spread, ecosystem connectivity, and climate change. The atmosphere is not empty space, it is an active conduit connecting microbial life across landscapes. Guests: Carolyn R. Cornell, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural BiologyColorado State University Jane E. Stewart, Ph.D., Department of Agricultural BiologyColorado State University Links: Spatiotemporal patterns of airborne microbial communities in forest and grassland ecosystems . This episode…

People in this episode

Host: Marvin Whiteley, Ph.D.

Guests: Carolyn R. Cornell, Ph.D., Jane E. Stewart, Ph.D.

Topics covered

• aerobiome
• microbial communities
• airborne microbes
• ecosystem connectivity
• climate change

Keywords

• aerobiome
• airborne bacteria
• fungi
• microbial life
• pathogen spread
• ecosystem
• climate change

Sponsors

mBio

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American Society for Microbiology, Colorado State University

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