Microbial life forms exist that permanently inhabit and travel through the atmospheric boundary layer
While diverse microbial life forms are routinely detected traveling through the atmospheric boundary layer, current evidence indicates they are dispersed from surface ecosystems rather than permanently resident or reproducing in the air.
The retrieved literature confirms that microbes exist and travel within the atmospheric boundary layer (papers 1 and 2). However, the papers emphasize that these populations originate from surface emissions and undergo transport, dilution, and selection rather than forming a specialized, permanent atmospheric biome. Therefore, the claim that microbes permanently inhabit the boundary layer is contested.
Romie Tignat-Perrier. Structuring factors of microbial communities in the atmospheric boundary layer. https://doi.org/10.70675/661fb862zb148z4e49z9155z0490bfc6ea44
Paper 1 documents diverse microbial communities present within the planetary boundary layer and establishes that long-distance transport occurs.
Romie Tignat-Perrier. Structuring factors of microbial communities in the atmospheric boundary layer. https://doi.org/10.70675/661fb862zb148z4e49z9155z0490bfc6ea44
Paper 1 shows that atmospheric microbial communities are primarily sourced from and structured by terrestrial and marine surface ecosystems rather than permanently inhabiting the air.
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Sofía Galbán, Ana Justel, Sergi González, Pablo Sanz, Manuel Bañón, Juan Antonio Higuera, Javier Méndez, Woo Young Kim, Antonio Quesada. Vertical profiling of airborne microbial communities across the atmospheric boundary layer. 2026. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-7534
Paper 2 demonstrates vertical profiling of airborne microbial communities across the atmospheric boundary layer, confirming the presence of microbial life in these air masses.
Sofía Galbán, Ana Justel, Sergi González, Pablo Sanz, Manuel Bañón, Juan Antonio Higuera, Javier Méndez, Woo Young Kim, Antonio Quesada. Vertical profiling of airborne microbial communities across the atmospheric boundary layer. 2026. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-7534
Paper 2 indicates that airborne microbes are subjected to selective transport and atmospheric residence rather than forming a permanent, self-sustaining atmospheric biosphere.
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