Progress 09/12/16 to 06/30/21
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Bonnie Waring is not at Utah State University as of May 31, 2020. Bonnie did not complete the FINAL report for this project. See prior reports for accomplishments. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Bonnie Waring is not at Utah State University as of May 31, 2020. Bonnie did not complete the FINAL report for this project. See prior reports for accomplishments.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Bonnie Waring is not at USU as of May 31, 2020. Bonnie did not complete the annual report for this project. See prior reports for accomplishments. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Bonnie Waring is not at USU as of May 31, 2020. Bonnie did not complete the annual report for this project. See prior reports for accomplishments.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Biogeochemists, microbial ecologists, ecosystem ecologists Changes/Problems:To capture sufficiently broad gradients of the soil properties that are expected to impact responses to fertilization (organic matter content, mineralogy, initial pH), we will be sampling soils from some unmanaged ecosystems (including forest and tundra). However, our experiments will still provide fundamental information about carbon-nitrogen interactions in soil that have direct applicability to the management of fertilization regimes in agroecosystems. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I hired a PhD student, Savannah Adkins, who will be carrying out field and laboratory experiments associated with the NSF grant and UTA-1300. She will be assisted by undergraduate researchers Preston Christensen and Zach Anthony, who have previously worked on this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?It is anticipated that this work will result in several peer-reviewed manuscripts and conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will quantify three important organic matter pools (microbial biomass, particulate organic matter, mineral-associated organic matter) and their responses to N fertilization and soil acidification in two contexts: - long term N fertilization experiments - short-term laboratory incubations with soil microcosms Comparing responses in situ vs. in the lab will shed light on how plant responses over the longer term (e.g. changes in tissue nutrient content or productivity) mediate microbial responses to N. As part of this work we will measure NUE, CUE, and microbial extracellular enzyme activity in all treatments.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This project formed the basis for a grant funded by the NSF Macrosystems Biology program to examine N effects on microbial physiology and soil C cycling. The grant begins 1/1/20. The objectives are to examine how N fertilization (and associated soil acidification) affect movement of carbon through three organic matter pools with different residence times: microbial biomass, particulate organic matter, and mineral-associated organic matter.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The experiments described here address basic unresolved questions about controls on the soil nitrogen cycle, and the data will be of great interest to ecosystem ecologists, soil microbiologists, and biogeochemists. However, these data can also directly inform land management policy and practice, and will be useful to farmers and other land managers in the state of Utah and throughout the continental U.S. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two undergraduate students (Zach Anthony and Lizzy Lasley) and a postdoctoral research associate (Kenny Smith) conducted research related to this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Zach and Lizzy presented their work at the USU Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Our goal for the coming year is to perfect the isotopic methods necessary to quantify microbial growth efficiency. Since the compost/legume cover crop treatments did not establish an N gradient sufficient to induce changes in microbial community composition, we will also identify steeper gradients of soil N availability in agrosystems that might be leveraged to conduct our planned incubation experiment.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goal of this research is to address the effects of agricultural management practices on microbial community carbon and nitrogen use efficiencies, thereby gaining a better understanding of ecosystem nitrogen losses. To do so, we will determine whether microbial biomass, community composition, and nutrient use efficiencies vary among different management regimes (e.g. fertilization, cover crops). This year, we focused on two research goals critical to the implementation of the project: 1) We continued to develop isotopic methods for quantifying microbial carbon use efficiency and nitrogen use efficiency. Our prior measurements of gross N immobilization were not sufficiently accurate to quantify NUE. Therefore we are testing an alternative approach: measuring overall microbial growth efficiency by quantifying incorporation of a labeled substrate (glucose) into the microbial biomass over a short period of time. 2) We took advantage of an established UAES project at Blue Creek to explore how variation in soil N inputs affects fungal biomass and community composition. This is highly relevant to the work described here because shifts in microbial community composition are expected be a primary mechanism by which past N input history shapes microbial processing and retention of N. Unexpectedly, however, additions of compost and planting of leguminous cover crops (i.e. enhanced organic and inorganic N inputs) did not affect the identity or relative abundance of the microbial species present in soil. This finding will influence the design of our planned laboratory microcosm experiments (see below).
Publications
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The experiments described here address basic unresolved questions about controls on the soil nitrogen cycle, and the data will be of great interest to ecosystem ecologists, soil microbiologists, and biogeochemists. However, these data can also directly inform land management policy and practice, and will be useful to farmers and other land managers in the state of Utah and throughout the continental U.S. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?USU undergraduate Preston Christensen received training in field and laboratory techniques to participate in this project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?These preliminary results were presented by USU undergraduate Preston Christensen at the USU Biology Undergraduate Research Symposium. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?As part of a separate UAES project, the Waring lab established replicated plots of similar agricultural management treatments (legume cover crops, non-legume cover crops, and compost addition) at Blue Creek Experimental Farm in April 2017. With our preliminary data and optimized protocols in-hand, we will sample these plots in April 2018 to provide a definitive test of our hypothesis: that decreasing microbial nitrogen use efficiency is associated with greater ecosystem N loss.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The goal of this research is to address the effects of agricultural management practices on microbial community carbon and nitrogen use efficiencies, thereby gaining a better understanding of ecosystem nitrogen losses. To do so, we will determine whether microbial biomass, community composition, and nutrient use efficiencies vary among different management regimes (e.g. fertilization, cover crops). Over the past year, a team of undergraduates analyzed nitrogen cycling across three agricultural treatments (N-fixing [legume] cover crops, non-legume cover crops, and compost amendments) that were expected to generate a gradient of N availability. This preliminary work was conducted at the USU's Greenville Experimental Farm. As expected, the dominant chemical form of N and the fungal:bacterial ratio (an important metric of microbial community structure) varied according to management practice. Interestingly, the legume (N-fixing) cover crop treatment exhibited highest rates of gross N mineralization but the lowest levels of plant-available N, suggesting strong microbial competition for this resource. These preliminary data also provided us the opportunity to test and optimize isotopic methods for measuring microbial nitrogen use efficiency. Milestones: 1) Tested protocols and obtained promising preliminary data 2) Trained undergraduates in field, laboratory, and presentation techniques 3) Identified/established field sites that will support the next phase of the experiment
Publications
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Progress 09/12/16 to 09/30/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience The experiments described here address basic unresolved questions about controls on the soil nitrogen cycle, and the data will be of great interest to ecosystem ecologists, soil microbiologists, and biogeochemists. However, these data can also directly inform land management policy and practice, and will be useful to farmers and other land managers in the state of Utah and throughout the continental U.S. Changes/Problems:Changes/Problems I did not receive access to a usable lab space until November 9, 2016. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Opportunities I am in the process of hiring a post-doctoral researcher and have recruited four undergraduates to work in my lab. These individuals will start methods validation and sampling in the spring 2017 semester. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Plan of Work Because I did not have a usable lab space until yesterday (see below), I have not been able to start testing biogeochemical methods for this project as planned. However, I have ordered all major lab equipment and will begin methods validation as soon as possible. This will keep me on track for my stated benchmark of beginning the incubation experiments in early fall 2017.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Accomplishments After an extensive review of candidate sites, I have identified an appropriate sampling site at Blue Creek Experimental Farm. Earl Creech and Jennifer Reeve of the Plant Soils Climate department have been maintaining a fertilizer trial there involving both organic compost and inorganic N amendments. This is an ideal system to test the hypotheses described in the proposal. I anticipate sampling will begin in early Spring 2017.
Publications
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