** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PREDOCTORAL RESEARCH PROJECT IS MOST RELEVANT TO THE AFRI FARM BILL PRIORITY AREA BIOENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND ENVIRONMENT. CONVENTIONAL AGRICULTURE OFTEN LEADS TO ERODED SOILS WITH DECREASED SOIL AGGREGATION, CARBON (C) AND MICROBIAL BIOMASS AND HEAVILY SHIFTED NUTRIENT CYCLES. THIS IS A THREAT TO BOTH SOIL HEALTH AND NATIVE BIODIVERSITY THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO NATIVE AND AGROECOSYSTEMS LIKE RANGELANDS. IN PRAIRIE RESTORATIONS THAT AIM TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES, NATIVE ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL (AM) FUNGI THAT FORM A SYMBIOSIS WITH THE ROOTS OF PLANTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO HELP INCREASE PLANT BIODIVERSITY BY IMPROVING THE GROWTH AND ESTABLISHMENT OF DESIRABLE, LATE SUCCESSIONAL PLANT SPECIES. I WILL ANALYZE THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SOIL HEALTH OF REINTRODUCTION OF NATIVE AM FUNGI IN PRAIRIE RESTORATIONS ON POST-AGRICULTURAL LANDS BY EXAMINING (1) SOIL STRUCTURE AND NUTRIENTS (TOTAL SOIL C, ORGANIC C, NITROGEN, AND PHOSPHORUS) AS WELL AS (2) BOTH THE AM FUNGAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION AND MICROBIAL BIOMASS OF DIFFERENT MICROBIAL GROUPS BETWEEN UNINOCULATED PLOTS AND PLOTS INOCULATED WITH NATIVE AM FUNGI AT THREE DIFFERENT SITES. ADDITIONALLY, I WILL EVALUATE (3) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PLANT COMMUNITY AND THESE SOIL CHARACTERISTICS AND TEST THE INTERCONNECTED INFLUENCES OF AM FUNGI AND PLANT COMMUNITY COMPOSITION ON SOIL HEALTH INDICATORS USING STATISTICAL MODELING. THIS RESEARCH WILL SUPPORT EFFORTS TO PROMOTE SOIL HEALTH IN DEGRADED LANDSCAPES. FURTHERMORE, BIOINOCULANTS HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION OF RANGELANDS AND AGRICULTURE, AND THIS PROJECT ANALYZES THE BENEFITS OF ONE PARTICULARLY PROMISING PLANT SYMBIONT. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT DIRECTOR IN RESTORATION, GRASSLAND, AND AM FUNGAL ECOLOGY.