Microbes are essential for the functioning of ecological systems.
While ecologists have developed methods to measure many of the rates of these processes they have effectively ignored the microbes themselves. It is now time augment these rate studies with measurements aimed at the microbes themselves. We believe that a better level of understanding of complex ecological systems can only be achieved through a better understanding of microbial abundance, distribution, dynamics, communities, and of how these communities function and are controlled. The microbial research that has been carried out over the nearly two decades of the LTER program has added to fundamental knowledge and also made clear the advantages to carrying out microbial research at LTER field sites. These are excellent opportunities to investigate environmental regulation of microbes and the role of microbes in ecosystem processes.