The Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research Program has granted Dr. Itamar Shabtai, a soil scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), a user facility award. The project, titled “What goes around comes around: Exploring the cyclical nature of soil biogeochemical hotspots,” will span two years and is part of the Facilities Integrating Collaborations for User Science program.
Dr. Shabtai’s research focuses on the processes that occur during root growth, death, and decomposition. His team will have access to various user facilities to study these interactions. Collaborators on this project include Dr. Angela Possinger from Virginia Tech, Dr. Roland Wilhelm from Purdue University, and Dr. James O’Sullivan from the Advanced Photon Source synchrotron.
The study examines how plant roots affect soil structure, chemical composition, and microbial communities within areas influenced by living and decomposing roots—known as the rhizosphere and detritusphere respectively. According to Dr. Shabtai, “Plant roots speed up many processes in root-adhering soil,” emphasizing their significant impact on overall soil dynamics.
The research aims to enhance understanding of physical, chemical, and microbiological changes throughout the root life cycle. The team will focus on sorghum plants’ root-soil interface, utilizing resources at EMSL for chemical analysis, support from the Joint Genome Institute for studying microbial communities, and X-ray beams at APS for examining physical microstructure.
Dr. Jason C. White, Director of CAES, said that this work will help comprehend how plant roots influence soil formation and nutrient cycling in agricultural soils. Insights gained could lead to improved strategies for maintaining soil health through practices like cover cropping and crop rotation.
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