** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** DEGRADED MIDWESTERN U.S. SOILS REQUIRE INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE AGROECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND BUILD RESILIENCE TO PERTURBATIONS. INTEGRATED LAND RESTORATION IN THE FORM OF PRAIRIE STRIPS IS ONE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY THAT HAS SHOWN IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENTS TO BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, INCLUDING SOIL CARBON (C) STORAGE AND SOIL FERTILITY. HOWEVER, BENEFICIAL SOIL MICROORGANISMS WHICH HELP BUILD SOIL FERTILITY ARE INFLUENCED BY PAST ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. GIVEN THAT THESE SOIL MICROBES LARGELY CONTROL SOIL C AND NITROGEN (N) CYCLES, IT IS CRITICAL TO EVALUATE HOW BOTH HISTORICAL ROW-CROP MANAGEMENT AND CURRENT LAND RESTORATION DETERMINE BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES PROVIDED BY SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES OVER TIME. TO ADDRESS THIS KNOWLEDGE GAP, THE PROJECT WILL: (1) QUANTIFY SOIL MICROBIAL FUNCTION MEASURED AS C AND N STORAGE AND TURNOVER, (2) TEST THE EFFECTS OF PAST ROW-CROP AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND MICROBIAL FUNCTIONAL MEMORY ON BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, AND (3) QUANTIFY CHANGES IN SOIL MICROBIAL DIVERSITY AND SIZE AND THE RELATIONSHIP TO BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH. THE PROJECT WILL LEVERAGE A RESTORED PRAIRIE CHRONOSEQUENCE THAT INCLUDES A REMNANT PRAIRIE AND CONVENTIONAL WHEAT-CORN-SOY ROTATIONS TO DOCUMENT CHANGES IN SOIL MICROBIAL FUNCTION AND DIVERSITY AS RESTORED PRAIRIES DEVELOP. COLLECTIVELY, THIS PROJECT WILL ALLOW US TO CREATE PREDICTIVE AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS ON HOW SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IMPROVE BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES WITHIN RESTORED AREAS OF EXTENSIVELY MANAGED CROPLAND SYSTEMS.