IN AN ATTEMPT TO ALLEVIATE RISKS TO ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY, RECENT U.S. ENERGY POLICY HAS MANDATED PRODUCTION OF RENEWABLE BIOENERGY WHICH HAS SPARKED A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY AND INVESTMENT IN DEDICATED BIOENERGY CROP PRODUCTION ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS. TO REDUCE COMPETITION FOR LAND BETWEEN ENERGY AND FOOD PRODUCTION, MARGINAL LANDS, THAT IS LANDS THAT ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR FOOD PRODUCTION, ARE EMERGING AS PROMISING CANDIDATES FOR GROWING DEDICATED BIOENERGY CROPS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EXAMINE THE SUITABILITY OF APPALACHIAN MARGINAL LANDS FOR PRODUCTION OF THE BIOENERGY CROP MISCANTHUS &TIMES; GIGANTEUS (HEREAFTER, MISCANTHUS) AND TO DETERMINE WHETHER PLANT-SOIL-MICROBIAL INTERACTIONS CAN BE LEVERAGED TO IMPROVE THE CARBON (C) AND NITROGEN (N) USE EFFICIENCY OF THE CROP AND ITS ASSOCIATED SOIL MICROBIOME. UNDERSTANDING THIS DYNAMIC IS IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THE SOIL MICROBIOME MAY BENEFIT PLANT PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH IMPROVED ACQUISITION OF NUTRIENTS AND WATER AMONG OTHER MEANS. FURTHER, BIOENERGY CROP PRODUCTION ON APPALACHIAN MARGINAL LANDS HAS THE POTENTIAL NOT ONLY TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS BUT ALSO TO OFFER ECONOMIC RETURNS TO GROWERS IN RURAL AREAS WITH FEW OPTIONS FOR INCOME ON THESE LANDS. WHILE PROMISING, SEVERAL QUESTIONS REMAIN ON HOW TO GROW DEDICATED BIOENERGY CROPS SUCH AS MISCANTHUS ON MARGINAL LANDS, HOW THESE CROPS WILL PERFORM ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARGINAL LANDS, AND WHETHER THESE SITES CAN PRODUCE ABUNDANT BIOMASS WHILE MAINTAINING AND POTENTIALLY IMPROVING ECOSYSTEM SERVICESWE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE MISCANTHUS MICROBIOME CAN BE LEVERAGED TO SUSTAINABLY INCREASE YIELD ON MARGINAL LANDS WHILE REDUCING THE NEED FOR AND LOSS OF NUTRIENTS TO SURROUNDING ECOSYSTEMS. TO TEST OUR OVERALL HYPOTHESIS, FIRST, WE WILL DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF INITIAL SOIL CHARACTERISTICS AND NUTRIENT AMENDMENT LOADS ON NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY AND MISCANTHUS CROP YIELDS ON MARGINAL AND SUB-MARGINAL (THAT IS, HIGHLY DISTURBED) LANDS IN WEST VIRGINIA. SECOND, WE WILL DETERMINE THE MICROBIAL TAXA AND GENOMIC FEATURES THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY AND MISCANTHUS YIELD. THIRD, WE WILL UTILIZE A CONTROLLED GREENHOUSE EXPERIMENT TO TEST WHETHER THE MISCANTHUS MICROBIOME CAN BE MANIPULATED TO IMPROVE NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY AND MISCANTHUS YIELD IN MARGINAL AND SUB-MARGINAL SOILS. TO MEET THESE OBJECTIVES, OUR TEAM HAS DEVELOPED CUTTING-EDGE STABLE-ISOTOPE ENABLED METHODS THAT ALLOWS US TO MEASURE MICROBIAL TRAITS AT THE INDIVIDUAL SPECIES LEVEL AS WELL AS FOR ALL MICROBES IN A GIVEN SOIL. WE WILL USE THESE TECHNIQUES IN PARALLEL WITH CLASSICAL TECHNIQUES IN SOIL AND PLANT CHEMICAL ANALYSIS TO QUANTIFY THE INFLUENCE OF MICROBIAL TRAITS AND DIVERSITY ON MISCANTHUS YIELD AND QUALITY ACROSS EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS THAT SPAN GRADIENTS IN SOIL QUALITY AND NUTRIENT AMENDMENT LOADS.THIS RESEARCH WILL ESTABLISH NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND ENHANCE EXISTING COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN EARLY CAREER AND ESTABLISHED SCIENTISTS AT WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY. OUR RESEARCH TEAM COMPRISES EXPERTISE IN MICROBIAL ECOLOGY, BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, PLANT AND SOIL NUTRIENT ASSESSMENT, MARGINAL LAND RECLAMATION AND ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION. THIS EXPERTISE WILL ALLOW US TO USE A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PROCESSES AT THE MICROSCOPIC SCALE GOVERN BIOENERGY CROP YIELD, QUALITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE MISSION AND PRIORITY AREAS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH INITIATIVE. MOREOVER, THIS CONFLUENCE OF EXPERTISE WILL ENHANCE THE CAPACITY OF THE RESEARCH TEAM TO ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT SPAN MULTIPLE LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION AND WILL PROVIDE UNIQUE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.