About Holobionts
Illustration: @brenna_quinlan - used with permission
Holobionts are vital for life on Earth. They’re complex ecological communities where a host – such as a human, earthworm, or plant – provides structure and habitat for closely associated microorganisms. Not everyone has heard of them, but understanding holobionts can inspire us all to build a better future together.
In a holobiont, a host produces scaffolding inside and on themselves for a mosaic of life forms. The members of this commonwealth often include mutually beneficial partners, adversaries such as pathogens, and relatively neutral guests or passengers.
The term holobiont has a few proposed origins and uses. I like to link the concept to the word ‘holism,’ that stretches back to ancient philosophers such as Aristotle. In fact, he’s often credited with the statement, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”
This thinking flows opposite to several established systems for exploring our world. Holistic perspectives are sometimes distrusted, perhaps because thinking about complex living systems is so difficult. While controlled and replicated experiments have yielded amazing technical insights, I believe that holobiont-thinking is our next step forward.
An expansive perspective
I affirm the value of carefully controlled studies that explore intricate biological mechanisms. In other words, science and research are essential. At the same time, I propose that ecosystems depend on multiple symbiotic relationships that are organized around holobionts. Ignoring these community organisms will leave us confused and frustrated.
Land and soil management decisions tend to focus on plants and animals rather than holobionts. This is one reason costly and harmful chemicals are used to ‘control pests.’ I previously wrote about how we often breed plants, not holobionts, and why we need to recontextualize our procedures to account for the holistic biological community.
When humans focus on managing plants and animals, we miss a fundamental aspect of systematic wellness and resilience. We must expand our thinking to encompass the key principles of holobiont management that apply similarly to small gardens, medium-sized grazing pastures, or massive agricultural operations.
With this framework, I see new possibilities for humans to relate with the rest of life on Earth. And it’s about time.
Let’s celebrate holobionts
We need holobionts. We are holobionts. I believe many of us want to redesign our health, yards, gardens, fields, pastures, forests, and more. If we reach for the most effective principles of holobiont management, we can develop our capacities together. This starts by celebrating how our home planet rests on the foundations of diverse ecosystems that are upheld by holobionts
If we connect with these community-organisms, we can help them thrive and they can help us thrive. This is not solely about food or livelihoods; it’s about a different way for humans to live and interact with our beautiful biological world. Many of our looming environmental challenges and much of the environmental damage we’ve done link to one cause: We ignored holobionts!
Wisdom from multiple indigenous communities calls us to remember holobionts and become guardians of the biosphere. Let’s create an engaging and enjoyable community to shift our personal and collective ethos. This is the vision of the Holobiont Hub. I hope you will join us.
Join the H.H. community
We can start by transforming our thinking together. Humans are not separate from nature. We can regenerate our relationships with the other organisms we depend upon. We can understand how we are part of a global biological and social community. We can act as stewards and custodians of every form of life.
Let’s co-create meaningful projects. My priority is spreading free and useful information about holobionts, gardening, ecosystems, agriculture, and our precious environment. We’ll also touch on topics such as informational literacy, human decision-making, and social evolution.
It all connects! We need awareness of biology, ecology, history, psychology, and more. We need to enhance our individual and collective consciousness. A hub is the center of a wheel, movement, area, or network, and holobionts connect to everything on earth.
For more information on holobionts, check out these two public webinars…
