prairie

I am a Ph. D. student interested in soil microbial community function and prairie restoration. Specifically, I am measuring the effects of soil aggregate size distribution and pore space distribution within aggregates on soil enzyme activity and organic matter turn-over. My field site, the Iowa State Comparison of Biofuel Systems (COBS) includes replicates of two planted prairie treatments (unfertilized and fertilized) in addition to several traditional cropping systems.

Across broad spatial scales we know that the structure and function of plant and soil microbial communities influence each other. This is because the availability of growth-limiting resources shapes the composition of biotic communities. Resource availability for soil microorganisms is constrained by organic compounds in dead leaves and roots that can be used to generate cellular energy.