**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PROJECT SUMMARYWHILE THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO ASSESS SOIL, AND MUCH POPULAR AND RESEARCH INTEREST IN SOIL HEALTH AND REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE PRACTICES, TO DATE THERE IS NOT A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK OR TOOL TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS NORMAL OR POSSIBLE FOR IMPROVING SOIL CONDITIONS IN AGRICULTURE OR FOR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO FILL THAT NEED BY COMBINING DATA FROM AN ALREADY EXISTING EFFORT BY RESEARCHERS AT LAND GRANT UNIVERSITIES AND THE COLORADO DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE AS WELL AS NATURAL AND RESTORED ECOSYSTEMS TO DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW MANAGED SOILS COMPARE TO NATURAL/RESTORED SOILS AND QUANTIFY THE SOIL HEALTH GAP. THE SOIL HEALTH GAP IS A WAY TO ASSESS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOILS TO GAIN FUNCTION AND CHARACTERISTICS WE KNOW SUPPORT DIVERSE AND ROBUST LIFE THAT CONSIDERS THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND PEDOLOGICAL PROCESSES INHERENT IN A SOIL'S CHARACTERISTICS, AND ABILITY AND TENDENCY TO RESPOND TO CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT. ULTIMATELY, THIS RESEARCH WILL BE SYNTHESIZED IN A WEB-TOOL THAT WILL ENABLE ANYONE TO SEARCH AND COMPARE SOIL HEALTH DATA ACROSS THE STATE BY A NUMBER OF VARIABLES SUCH AS SOIL TYPE, CLIMATE, MANAGEMENT PRACTICE, LOCATION, ETC AND COMPARE IT TO NATURAL & RESTORED ECOSYSTEMS WHICH HAVE BEEN SAMPLED IN THE STATE.ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF HOW MANAGEMENT INFLUENCES THE BEHAVIOR OF SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND THEIR ABILITY TO ACCRUE SOIL ORGANIC MATTER. THIS STUDY WILL USE A VARIETY OF SOILS UNDER A RANGE OF PLANT DIVERSITY AND PERENNIALITY TO QUANTIFY HOW EFFICIENTLY MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES UTILIZE CARBON AND COMPARE IT TO THE FORM OF THE SOIL CARBON IN THE SOIL.TOGETHER THESE EFFORTS WILL ADVANCE OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HOW MANAGEMENT IMPACTS SOIL HEALTH, AREAS THAT HAVE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVEMENT COMPARED TO RELEVANT NATURAL ECOSYSTEM BENCHMARKS, AND THE ROLE OF PLANT DIVERSITY VS. PERENNIALITY IN INFLUENCING THE ENHANCED FUNCTION OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES. THESE EFFORTS WILL ALSO PROVIDE A TOOL FOR ANYONE, IN PARTICULAR THE PRODUCERS PART OF THE COLORADO STAR PROGRAM, TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR SOIL CONDITIONS AND HOW THAT COMPARES TO OTHER SOILS ACROSS THE STATE. ULTIMATELY THE HOPE IS THAT THIS TOOL COULD BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL DATA AND SYNTHESIS ACROSS MULTIPLE REGIONS TO HAVE A BROAD PICTURE OF SOIL HEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES.BACKGROUND AND DETAILSDESPITE THE DEARTH OF ACADEMIC LITERATURE ON SOIL HEALTH AND SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION, THERE ARE FEW TOOLS RELEVANT TO MANAGERS THAT PROVIDE MEANINGFUL INTERPRETATION OF SOIL HEALTH. FOR SOIL CARBON, THE MOST COMMONLY CITED INDICATOR OF SOIL HEALTH, INTERPRETATION IS 'MORE IS BETTER,' BUT SOILS HAVE INHERENTLY DIFFERENT CAPACITIES TO STORE AND SEQUESTER CARBON BASED ON THE SOIL FORMING FACTORS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY JENNY (1941). GENERATING MORE TRUSTED AND RELEVANT INFORMATION TO FARMERS AND POLICY MAKERS WOULD ENCOURAGE GREATER MARKET AND PROGRAM ENTRANCE INTO REGIONAL PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO SUPPOR,T FARMERS ADOPTING NEW PRACTICES SUCH AS THE COLORADO SOIL HEALTH PROGRAM (CSHP) AND EMERGING VOLUNTARY SOIL CARBON MARKETS. MOREOVER, SOIL ORGANIC MATTER (SOM) IS MOST COMMONLY ASSESSED AT THE BULK SOIL LEVEL, THOUGH WE KNOW THAT ORGANIC MATTER IS COMPOSED OF FUNCTIONALLY AND CHEMICALLY DISTINCT FORMS (PARTICULATE (POM) AND MINERAL-ASSOCIATED (MAOM)), WHICH RESPOND TO MANAGEMENT IN DIFFERENT WAYS. CURRENTLY THERE IS NO TOOL OR FRAMEWORK FOR FARMERS TO BE ABLE TO COMPARE THEIR SOIL HEALTH ASSESSMENT TO A RELEVANT BENCHMARK OR INTERPRET SOM FRACTIONS IN A RELEVANT WAY. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO UNDERTAKE A PILOT PROJECT TO FILL THIS GAP FOR GROWERS IN COLORADO. IN COLLABORATION WITH THE COLORADO SOIL HEALTH PROGRAM, THIS PROJECT WILL: 1A) ESTABLISH SOIL HEALTH AND MAOM/POM BENCHMARKS IN NATIVE COLORADO SOILS RELEVANT TO GROWERS IN THE CSHP 1B) ASSESS THE SENSITIVITY OF SOIL HEALTH AND SOM TO A GRADIENT OF CONSERVATION PRACTICES USING THE RESEARCH SITES FROM THE CSHP AND RE-SAMPLING PREVIOUSLY STUDIED FARMS; 2) ASSESS THE EFFECT OF SPATIAL VS. TEMPORAL PLANT DIVERSITY ON MICROBIAL COMMUNITY FUNCTION AND SOM BY COMPARING ESTIMATES OF CARBON-USE-EFFICIENCY, ENZYME AND RESPIRATION ACTIVITY, AND SOM IN SOILS ACROSS A SPATIO-TEMPORAL GRADIENT OF PERENNIALITY AND DIVERSITY; AND 3) DEVELOP AN ONLINE ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR LAND MANAGERS TO COMPARE SOIL HEALTH TO NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS IN CO. THIS PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE SOIL HEALTH SAMPLES COLLECTED AS PART OF THE CSHP IN CONJUNCTION WITH RE-SAMPLING PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON WORKING FARMS TO CREATE A DATABASE OF CURRENT MANAGED AND NATURAL ECOSYSTEM SOIL HEALTH IN THE STATE. CREATING BENCHMARKS AND AN ONLINE RESOURCE TOOL WILL ALLOW LAND MANAGERS AND POLICY MAKERS TO MAKE BETTER INFORMED DECISIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH LOCALLY AND REGIONALLY WITH INFORMED CHOICES ABOUT THE NATURAL CAPACITY OF SOIL TO STORE CARBON. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE UNIVERSALLY RECOMMENDED CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICEOF INCREASING PLANT DIVERSITY AND PERENNIALITY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION.

Colorado State University, Fort Collins CO

Investigators