Microbial management of anaerobic digestion: exploiting the microbiome-functionality nexus

• Requirements for microbial management in anaerobic digestion are revised.
• Bacterial evenness and active Archaea population are proposed as microbial indicators.
• Strategies currently applied to shape anaerobic microbiome are explored.
• Future steps to accomplish proactive management are defined.

Anaerobic reactors are mostly operated based on the monitoring of process parameters and empirical expert knowledge due to the limitations of microbial-based management. This review analyzes the requirements to conduct microbial management in anaerobic digestion, emphasizing the importance of understanding the anaerobic microbiome and the need of establishing microbial indicators of optimal performance. The strategies currently applied to shape the reactor microbiome are explored and we assess critically the different types of management (retrospective, prospective and proactive). We conclude that future research should lead to more useful data or insights to accomplish proactive management, seen as stimulation and anticipation rather than remediation.

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