Research |
Examining how microbial communities respond to drought
Soil microbial communities are critical parts of ecosystems. They mediate carbon and nitrogen cycling and have important associations with plants. The Midwest U.S. is predicted to experience longer dry periods as precipitation variability and temperatures increase. Growing season drought can be devastating to crop yields, but soil microbial communities have the potential to buffer yield loss through increasing plant drought tolerance and soil water retention.
Questions
How does growing season drought affect soil bacterial communities and plant growth in corn and soybean fields?
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How do microbial inocula affect drought tolerance of plants and soil microbial communities?
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How does soil resource availability constrain stress tolerance in microbial communities?
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Understanding how fungal and bacterial communities influence decay
Wood decomposition is an important part of global nutrient and carbon cycles. Fungi are considered primary wood decomposers, and there is growing understanding that bacteria are important for decomposition. Fungal and bacterial communities respond to their environmental conditions (such as moisture and nutrient availability) and substrate characteristics (such as tree species identity) and therefore influence wood decay rates. For my dissertation, I combined environmental and wood substrate manipulations with next-generation sequencing of fungal and bacterial communities to understand how microbial communities respond to their environment and impact wood decay.
Questions
What is the relative importance of substrate and soil nutrients to fungal wood decay?
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How do bark and wood decay differ?
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How does wood decay differ between terrestrial and stream habitats?
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