"Since microorganisms play major roles in maintaining earth's life-support systems, we need to be especially careful about tinkering with decomposition and other recycling processes. ... What is needed now is a reasonable procedure for assessment at the ecosystem level that leans to the side of caution when there are a lot of unknowns. Accordingly, there is urgent need for increased support for research in environmental microbiology (that is, microbial ecology) and ecosystem science."