Soil Microbiome of Central Park

The soil of New York City’s Central Park is bursting with biodiversity spanning all three domains of life, according to a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. In fact, the urban environment harboured as many different microbial species as diverse biomes around the world, including the soils of the arctic, desert, and tropical locales.

The researchers found that Central Park’s microbial diversity was on par with biodiversity seen around the world.

The paper is titled “Biogeographic patterns in below-ground diversity in New York City’s Central Park are similar to those observed globally.”

Posted by Tim Sandle