Simplification and Recovery of Soil Biocomplexity following Agricultural Cultivation and Forest Logging

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

On several billions of hectares, modern land uses are transforming soil biocomplexity, the interactions between the extremely diverse soil biota and biogeochemical pattern and process. Regrettably, our understanding of this transformation lags far behind our impact. This award constitutes an ambitious planning grant, composed of a variety of the nation's leading soil biologists and biogeochemists as well as highly talented young scientists, to evaluate how and why soil biocomplexity is altered by long-practiced land uses. The project features the soils of the old cotton belt of the southern United States, soils highly disturbed by long-continued agriculture and forestry. The team will meet on two occasions as a full group to conceptualize a model of land use impacts on soil biota and biogeochemistry, and perform preliminary work on novel collections and samples from the long-term Calhoun Experimental Forest, located near Spartanburg, South Carolina. The team will apply new expertise in a variety of complex analytical and sampling techniques.