Soil Ecology Lab  

 

Researchers in the Soil Ecology Lab study how soil organisms respond to the environment and affect plant communities and ecosystem properties.

  

Research projects

Current research 

• Collaborative studies of mycorrhizas in long-term experiments in Europe. Fulbright Commission 
• Effects of herbivores and mycorrhizas on N-fixers across soil and climate gradients in the Serengeti. NSF (DEB-0842327) 
• Understanding plant-soil-microbial processes to enhance soil carbon sequestration in bioenergy feedstock production USDA (AB-5-67690)  
• Detecting the impacts of nitrogen pollution on vegetation and soils in Grand Canyon National Park. NPS (R2350105511)  

Past research

• Narrowing the gap between theory and practice in mycorrhizal management 
• Testing a unified hypothesis of mycorrhizal function 
• Measuring the importance of biological soil crusts and mycorrhizae to soil stability of rangeland
• Mycorrhizal responses to plant diversity, elevated carbon dioxide, and nitrogen 
• Evaluation of the role of mycorrhizae in arsenic uptake by plants

Lab photos

Check out some photographs from the field.