Agricultural Bacteria Erosion

A new study has shown that not only does wind carry away soil particles, but it also can blow away the "beneficial microbes that help build soil, detoxify contaminants, and recycle nutrients." A team of USDA-ARS scientists were able to use a powerful DNA sequencing technique and analyze three plots of agricultural land in Michigan. The findings suggested that different types of bacteria are in different types and locations of soil, and thus can be carried away by the wind. Wind erosion caused a lot of damage to begin with, but this new information suggests that it was much more damaging than we believed.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509092415.htm