Soil is likely the most complex ecosystem on earth. Despite the global importance and extraordinary diversity of soils, they have been notoriously challenging to study. We show how pioneering microfluidic techniques provide new ways of studying soil microbial ecology by allowing simulation and manipulation of chemical conditions and physical structures at the microscale in soil model habitats.

European Research Council (ERC) , NWO
NPG
doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.184
ISME J.
Physics of Behavior

Aleklett, K., Kiers, T., Ohlsson, P., Shimizu, T., Caldas, V. E. A., & Hammer, E. (2018). Build your own soil : exploring microfluidics to create microbial habitat structures. ISME J., 12(2), 312–319. doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.184