Synergistic Response Of Soil Function And Biodiversity To Multiple Soil Health Management Practices

Historically management of agricultural soils has resulted in depletion of soil biodiversity and inefficiencies in biogeochemical cycles. Soil health management strategies have often combated these negative effects, but stakeholders are hungry for information regarding potential synergies between management practices.we will pair a common garden experiment with a stable isotope pulse-chase, while simultaneously quantifying the composition, diversity and function of soil microbial communities, enabling for a better understanding of how soil health management practices interact (i.e., cover crop diversity, intercropping, compost addition, and livestock-crop integration). We will then expose soils to an array of global change factors, using a microcosm approach, to address how resistant/resilient soils are to these perturbations. Together the results of these objectives will illustrate synergies between soil health management practices, and how these practices impact soil biogeochemistry and microbial communities. Additionally, this work will provide critical links between soil health metrics and soil microbial community composition and function while also highlighting the resistance/resilience of these communities to global change.

This research is supported by USDA-NIFA under award number 2021-09118.