Progress 02/01/24 to 01/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Rangeland producers. In particular, we targeted communities in northern and central New Mexico that graze cattle in non-irrigated pastures. Our central site is at Santa Ana Pueblo and outreach activities targeted Tribal producers by annual tabling at the Tribe's Health and Environmental Fair in August 2024. Academics. The questions about microbial community succession and functioning in a novel environment are at the cutting edge of microbial ecology research and can help advance fundamental questions about how soil microbial interactions affect biogeochemical cycling. We communicated with academics through conference presentations (Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Society for Ecological Restoration), invited seminars (NM Institute of Mining and Technology; Deep Springs College), peer-reviewed publications (Ecosphere; People, Plants, Planet), and small-group zoom discussions with other compost researchers. Technical service providers. Organic amendment use for restoring degraded rangelands provides a novel tool for managers, extension agents, NRCS personnel, and others to actively manage towards their desired goals of soil health. These folks also attended the field days and had access to resources through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition, and have access to the peer-reviewed publications because we paid for them to be open access. Changes/Problems:Because I was unable to attract a qualified post-doc with the short timescale remaining on the grant, I leveraged a connecion with a colleague who worked as a contractor to process the bioinformatics data and produce initial analyses and figures. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In 2024, Dr. Stricker prioritized training and professional development of two undergraduate student workers (Melanie Gonzales, Timberlee Castillo; both identify as Indigenous) associated with this grant. This included one-on-one trainings, field work and lab work as well as feedback on other professional documents such as cover letters/cvs and grant proposals. Dr. Stricker metnored high school student India Owens. India completed a project using the Teatime4Science framework. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dr. Stricker participated in many outreach events aimed at community and academic audiences: Invited speaker. "Can principles of circular economy and soil health principles meet the needs of land stewards?" Albuquerque Wildlife Federation monthly meeting. Feb. 2024. Dr. Sticker tabled with an interactive exhibit on soil and compost microbes. Santa Ana Pueblo Environmental Fair. Aug. 2024. Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. Guest speaker. "Introduction to compost" LOBO Gardens class at UNM. Feb., Oct. 2024. Guest lecture. "Who are stakeholders in land management?" University of Arizona Natural Resources course. Jan. 2024. Remote. Lead UNM grad/undergrad student field trip visited Armendaris field site in Sep 2024 to learn about research at intersection of conservation and agriculture. Lead UNM undergrad student field trip: Reunity Resources compost production facility field trip and soil carbon monitoring in Feb. 2024. Skype a Scientist: Asociación Escuelas Lincoln, 5th grade class. Sep. 2024 1h. Amanda Clearcreek Elementary, 5th grade science classes. Oct. 2024. 3h What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?While there is no more funding remainin gon the project, several things were started in Jan 2025 that are continuing. Dr. Stricker began mentoring Olympia Breen for the Grand Challenges Climate Science Communication Fellowship. Olympia is looking at climate grief and manageement in agricultural communities. Multiple publications are in prep and once publisehd will be added to the PubAg database.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
When combining all y1 data (whether compost was added in 2021 or 2022), we found that there was no overall effect of compost treatment on infiltration rate, aboveground or belowground biomass, plant community diversity, aggregate stability, soil moisture, specific leaf area, or beta glucosidase activity, and therefor there were no tests or evaluations that a producer could use to help them assess the likelihood of meeting their goals. However there was a trend or significant results that plots with compost added had higher crude protein content of native grasses, higher soil nutrient availability and higher microbial biomass.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker E, Cornell E, Withers Z. 2025. Compost amendments up to one inch restore dry rangeland soil health. PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET: ppp3.10640.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bethany J, Kutos S, Oliver K, Stricker E. 2024. Spring Manure and Biosolid Compost Additions Affect Soil, Vegetation, and Microbial Characteristic in Dry Rangelands. Rangeland Ecology & Management 94: 7882.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Rodriguez-Cole*, C and Stricker, E. 2024. Compost addition tends to increase plant resistance to drought . Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest Chapter, Tucson AZ.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Rodriguez-Cole*, C and Stricker, E. 2024. Effects of compost addition on water retention Undergraduate Research Opportunity Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Seminar: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. How does climate change and management affect dryland microbes and their role in ecosystem function? Nov. 2024.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Seminar: Deep Springs College. Organic amendments on dry rangelands: can principles of circular economy and soil health principles meet the needs of land stewards? Sep. 2024.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker, E. 2025 Composts produced from different feedstocks differentially affect soil and vegetation responses in dry rangelands, but the responses were not driven by dominant microbes . Compost conference, Phoenix,
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E, and Bethany Rakes, J. 2024. Compost additions benefit rangelands in area of deployment but have limited dispersal of effects Ecological Society of America Annual Conference. Long Beach, CA.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker, E. and I. Owens (high school graduate). 2025. Decomposition rates and microbial community stabilize with time since compost addition to degraded rangelands . Sevilleta LTER All-Hands Meeting, San Antonio, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E. and I. Owens (high school graduate). 2024. Decomposition rates and microbial community stabilize with time since compost addition to degraded rangelands . Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest Chapter, Tucson, AZ.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Soriano Ynfante R, Falkowski TB, Stricker E, C�spedes B. 2024. Biochar production in northern New Mexico: Identifying challenges and opportunities. Journal of Environmental Management 367: 122072.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E. and Rodriguez-Cole*, C. 2024. Compost addition tends to increase plant resistance to drought . REGENERATE conference, Denver, CO.
|
Progress 02/01/21 to 01/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:Rangeland producers. In particular, we targeted communities in northern and central New Mexico that graze cattle in non-irrigated pastures. Our northern-most site in Tierra Amarilla is on a multi-generational ranch and adjacent to land grant communities. Our central site is at Santa Ana Pueblo and outreach activities targeted Tribal producers by annual tabling at the Tribe's Health and Environmental Fair. Our southern site is on Armendaris Ranch, one of several ranches owned by Ted Turner. These ranches are geared towards cultural use, conservation and recreation and thus the target audiences were folks interested in the intersection of agriculture and conservation. Our primary communication with these communities are through field days and through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition (Dr. Stricker is employed there part-time) which has a podcast, conference, technical guides/white papers, newsletters/social media etc. that reach >4,000 people across the intermountain west with interest in regenerative agriculture. Academics. The questions about microbial community succession and functioning in a novel environment are at the cutting edge of microbial ecology research and can help advance fundamental questions about how soil microbial interactions affect biogeochemical cycling. We communicated with academics through conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and small-group zoom discussions with other compost researchers. We reached our broader UNM research community (grad students, undergrads, post-docs, etc.) via a "STEM Shoutout" https://advance.unm.edu/stem-shoutout-dr-eva-stricker/. Technical service providers. Organic amendment use for restoring degraded rangelands provides a novel tool for managers, extension agents, NRCS personnel, and others to actively manage towards their desired goals of soil health. These folks also attended the field days and had access to resources through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?2024: Dr. Stricker prioritized training and professional development of two undergraduate student workers (Melanie Gonzales, Timberlee Castillo; both identify as Indigenous) associated with this grant. This included one-on-one trainings, field work and lab work as well as feedback on other professional documents such as cover letters/cvs and grant proposals. Dr. Stricker led two field trips with UNM students. In February, we visited Reunity Resources, the place where we purchased compost for this project, and we taught students in-field tests (aggregate stability, infiltration rate, biomass assessment) to evaluate how compost could be used to restore cropland function to a degraded, desertified piece of county land. In October, we had an overnight field trip including a visit to Armendaris Ranch where we discussed this study and the results (little evidence of microbial dispersal from the compost plots). Dr. Stricker mentored a recent high school graduate to conduct an analyze a "Teatime4Science" experiment with the existing compost plots. Dr. Stricker was selected to attend the "2024 STEM Faculty Academy: An Equity-Oriented Anti-Racist Community of Practice." Aug. 2024 40h. Dr. Stricker participated as a guest lecturer in undergraduate courses: Guest speaker. "Introduction to compost" LOBO Gardens class at UNM. Feb., Oct. 2024. Guest lecture. "Who are stakeholders in land management?" University of Arizona Natural Resources course. Jan. 2024. Remote. 2023: Dr. Stricker prioritized training and professional development of postdoctoral researcher (Bethany Rakes) and two undergraduate student workers (Baltazar, Rindestig) associated with this grant. This included one-on-one trainings, field work and lab work as well as feedback on other professional documents such as cover letters/cvs and grant proposals. Dr. Bethany Rakes contributed to two successful grant proposals totaling >$200,000 that expand from the NIFA work. One was a WSARE grant to understand how compost microbes disperse from the amended plots and affect soil health, and the other was a NRCS grant to expand access to agricultural careers for traditionally underserved students. Dr. Stricker supervised and Dr. Bethany Rakes co-developed a course, "Topics in Agroecology", taught asynchronously in spring 2023. We used data from this project as case studies to encourage critical thinking skills. Dr. Stricker mentored a group of students from the UNM Stable Isotopes class. Students re-sampled biocrusts that Dr. Rakes had sampled at one site in 2023 and analyzed C and N values of compost vs. control plots. 2022: Dr. Stricker prioritized training and professional development of both postdoctoral researchers (Kutos, Bethany Rakes) and a graduate researcher (Oliver) associated with this grant. This included one-on-one trainings, field work and lab work as well as feedback on other professional documents such as cover letters/cvs and grant proposals. Dr. Stricker supervised and co-taught taught a 400/500 level course called "Writing Clearly in Biology" in the spring 2022 semester with Dr. Kutos at the University of New Mexico. We used documents, outreach materials, and example writings from this project as case studies throughout the course. Dr. Kutos was a panelist for an Ecological Society of America Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability program on career paths in biological sciences at the University of New Mexico Sevilleta Field Station. Spring 2022 Dr. Kutos was a judge on undergraduate student presentations for the University of New Mexico Undergraduate Research Opportunity Conference. Spring 2022. Dr. Kutos was a judge on undergraduate student presentations for the University of New Mexico Research Day in Biology. Spring 2022 Dr. Stricker gave a guest lecture. "Compost in Regenerative Agriculture." UNM Taos Sustainable Agriculture course. Mar. 2022. Taos, NM. 2021: Dr. Stricker has prioritized training and professional development of both postdoctoral and undergraduate researchers associated with this grant. This includes one-on-one trainings on functional applications and operations of modern biogeochemical equipment including an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography machine. There have also been research trainings for undergraduate researchers including field work (i.e., soil aggregate stability and New Mexican vegetation identification and surveys). Additionally, there were trainings on modern DNA extractions from soil along with quantification and library preparation for DNA sequencing. Dr. Stricker has also conducted small group mentorship on better writing in the sciences including publications, conferences abstracts, and conference presentations. Dr. Kutos presented his PhD research "Factors influencing soil fungal community composition and function in deciduous forests" for the UNM Biology Brownbag Seminar and for the UNM Fungal Group seminar. Dr. Kutos presented an overview of his PhD research for the New York Botanical Garden as well as gave a lesson in urban ecology for the Youth Corps of New Mexico. Dr. Stricker spoke at a career seminar "Mentor Mixer" for the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in September 2021. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?2024 Dr. Stricker organized and presented a student's poster at the REGENERATE conference in Nov. 2024. Dr. Stricker discussed the project and the concept of decomposition with two 5th grade classes through the Skype a Scientist program (Sep, Oct. 2024) Dr. Sticker tabled with an interactive exhibit on soil and compost microbes. Santa Ana Pueblo Environmental Fair. Aug. 2024. Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. Dr. Stricker was an invited speaker. "Can principles of circular economy and soil health principles meet the needs of land stewards?" Albuquerque Wildlife Federation monthly meeting. Feb. 2024. Dr. Stricker was invited to be a member of theNew Mexico STAR ("Saving Tomorrow's Agricultural Resources") Science Committee. May 2024 - present. Dr. Stricker gave a seminar at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. "How does climate change and management affect dryland microbes and their role in ecosystem function?" and included results from this project. Nov. 2024. Dr. Stricker gave a seminar at Deep Springs College. "How does climate change and management affect dryland microbes and their role in ecosystem function?" and included results from this project. Sep. 2024. 2023 E. Bethany Rakes, J, O'Connell, M. 2023. "Souls of the Soil: Microbes and Managers Helping to Restore Degraded Rangelands." Resilience Magazine, Quivira Coalition. https://quiviracoalition.org/resilience-44/ Stricker was an invited speaker. "Don't bust the crust and other ways to stave off (and recover from?) the apocalypse." Taos Center for the Arts Science on Screen Series. Nov. 2023. Taos, NM. Dr. Sticker tabled with an interactive exhibit on soil and compost microbes. Santa Ana Pueblo Environmental Fair. Aug. 2023. Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. We attended the Quivira Coalition 2023 Fall Red Canyon Reserve Gathering (October 2023) to discuss how soil health principles and circular economy concepts relate to using organic amendments in rangeland management. We then toured the Armendaris Ranch experimental site and demonstrated monitoring techniques. We made one stop at the Santa Ana Pueblo experimental site during a Quivira Coalition workshop (December 2023) with the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute natural resources department soil science class to discuss initial findings of the changes in microbial communities with organic amendments. We discussed initial findings of the changes in microbial communities with organic amendments at a Guadalupe County Extension Soil Health workshop series in Puerta de Luna and Anton Chico New Mexico for producers and technical service providers. Mar. 2023 Dr. Stricker was an invited case study speaker. Sustainable Agriculture Summit, WSARE. Mar. 2023. Santa Fe, NM. 2022 Dr. Stricker hosted one field visit to Armendaris Ranch in April 2022. She presented poster results from herself and Dr. Kutos, conducted a tour of the experimental site, and demonstrated monitoring activities. While 8 people were registered, unfortunately only 4 attended. Dr. Stricker and new post-doc Dr. Bethany Rakes tabled at the Santa Ana Pueblo Health and Environment Day. They presented interactive demonstrations such as a rainfall simulation, comparing soil with and without compost, and microscopic investigation of composts and biocrust organisms. Dr. Kutos shared a poster and gave a presentation to the Santa Fe Climate Masters program at an event at Reunity Resources Santa Fe. Spring 2022 Dr. Kutos gave a seminar to the New Jersey Plant Society on the impacts of organic amendments including fertilizers and composts to plant growth and plant diversity. Spring 2022. CRI Director Stricker gave a UNM Taos Sustainable Agriculture guest lecture - Compost in Regenerative Agriculture. Taos, NM. Mar. 2022 2021 Dr. Stricker presented initial results from this and other related studies at non-academic conferences: Stricker E. 2021. "Compost in rural drylands" REGENERATE conference. remote. Stricker E. 2021. "Compost for healthy soils and rural communities" NM Recycling and Waste Management conference. Albuquerque, NM. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Overall, the strongest responses to compost additions were found at the site with generally cooler, wetter conditions. Thus, as is often the case with pulse-driven dryland cycles, the benefits to compost applications are most likely to be felt in years with higher precipitation. Future research is needed to understand how long after a single compost addition the effects can still be observed; because there is increasing climatic variability, there may be differential effects of resilience to drought if the system has benefited from compost addition for several years before the drought conditions, for example. Because we did not find systematic differences in how composts produced from different feedstocks affected desirable ecological characteristics, producers may opt to use composts that are most readily available. Given the paucity of compost production in many rural environments, there may not be many choices and our results so far show that there is not one kind of compost that it overwhelmingly superior to any other. Future efforts should be taken to discover if further processing into something like compost tea could provide comparable or improved results, because rural ranching communities often have water spraying trucks available but less often have things like tractors and manure spreaders. This work contributed to or coincided with several efforts to scale up the use of compost as a management technique. The formerly interim NRCS Carbon Amendment practice was approved as a national practice code in 2022, enabling producers to add compost amendments to things like EQIP projects if they follow the pre-addition testing. The nonprofit Quivira Coalition that was a partner on this grant was awarded a NRCS Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities grant and amendments were added to operations of four producers, with 13 in progress of the targeted 50 producers, before the program was cancelled by federal order in April 2025. Our grant and personnel maintained formal and informal contact with groups involved in these projects to provide technical support and research guidance.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker E, Cornell E, Withers Z. 2025. Compost amendments up to one inch restore dry rangeland soil health. PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET: ppp3.10640.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker, E, O'Connell, M. 2025. Amendments and seeding did not augment erosion control structure effectiveness in dry rangelands. Ecosphere. 16. E70105.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bethany J, Kutos S, Oliver K, Stricker E. 2024. Spring Manure and Biosolid Compost Additions Affect Soil, Vegetation, and Microbial Characteristic in Dry Rangelands. Rangeland Ecology & Management 94: 7882.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kutos S, Stricker E, Cooper A, Ryals R, Creque J, Machmuller M, Kroegar M, Silver WL. 2023. Compost amendment to enhance carbon sequestration in rangelands. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 78: 163177.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Soriano, R., Falkowski, T., Stricker, E., C�spedes, B. 2024. Biochar production in northern New Mexico: Identifying challenges and opportunities. Journal of Environmental Management 367: 122072
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker, E, Bell-Dereske, L, Peshek*, C, Garcia*, C, Lindsey*, J, Tierney*, CA, Bethany, J. Compost additions decrease relative abundance of biocrust cyanobacteria and decreases d13C values. In Review.
* Undergraduate and graduate students in the Spring 2023 Elemental Ecology (BIO 402/502) course
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Stricker, E. 2025 Composts produced from different feedstocks differentially affect soil and vegetation responses in dry rangelands, but the responses were not driven by dominant microbes . Compost conference, Phoenix, AZ.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E, and Bethany Rakes, J. 2024. Compost additions benefit rangelands in area of deployment but have limited dispersal of effects Ecological Society of America Annual Conference. Long Beach, CA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Stricker, E, and Bethany Rakes, J. 2023. Organic Amendments on Rangelands. Arizona section of the Society for Range Management. Phoenix, AZ.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Stricker, E, DeVan, R, and Kroeger, M. 2022. Rangeland compost amendments improve productivity and methane uptake. Soil Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting. Denver, CO.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Stricker, E, DeVan, R, and Kroeger, M. 2022. Rangeland compost amendments improve productivity and methane uptake. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Bethany Rakes, J., Kutos, S., Stricker, E. Adding compost to rangelands: Will it change microbial diversity and impact forage production? 16th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region. Flagstaff, AZ. Sept. 2022.
- Type:
Other Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Stricker, E. Bethany Rakes, J, OConnell, M. 2023. Souls of the Soil: Microbes and Managers Helping to Restore Degraded Rangelands. Resilience Magazine, Quivira Coalition.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Rodriguez-Cole*, C and Stricker, E. 2024. Effects of compost addition on water retention UNM Undergraduate Research Opportunity Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E. and Rodriguez-Cole*, C. 2024. Compost addition tends to increase plant resistance to drought . REGENERATE conference, Denver, CO.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E. and I. Owens (high school graduate). 2024. Decomposition rates and microbial community stabilize with time since compost addition to degraded rangelands . Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest Chapter, Tucson, AZ.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Rodriguez-Cole*, C and Stricker, E. 2024. Compost addition tends to increase plant resistance to drought . Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest Chapter, Tucson AZ.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Kutos S and Stricker, E. 2022. Potential impact of compost amendments and associated microbial diversity on dry rangeland soils. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Luna*, J, Kutos, S, and Stricker, E. 2022. How the addition of compost to arid soil can improve plant growth. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
|
Progress 02/01/23 to 01/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:We met our target audience of producdrs through outreach events/publications (see Accomplishments): We met our target audience of scientific reserachers through our publications (see products) and professional service such as: Dr. Stricker served on the master's committee for Highlands University candidate R. Soriano (Graduated Dec. 2023). Dr. Stricker is an Associate Editor for the European Journal of Soil Science. December 2021-present. Dr. Bethany Rakes was a guest editor for a special issue of Microorganisms. Dr. Stricker reviewed Organized Oral Sessions Abstracts for Ecological Society of America annual conference. Dr. Stricker reviewed Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant. 2023. We met our target audience of technical service providers or policy makers through professional service such as: Dr. Stricker was an invited panelist for: Building Partnerships for Agricultural Sustainability Summit, WSARE. planned: Dec. 2023. Phoenix, AZ. "Building Resilience on Working Lands." National Farmer's Union Women's Conference. Nov. 2023. Albuquerque, NM. "New Mexico Department of Agriculture Five Year Plan Stakeholders Meeting." Oct. 2023. Las Cruces, NM. "Systems-level transformations to enable soil-based climate solutions at scale." Soil Carbon Solutions Center, Sep. 2023. Denver, CO. "Colorado Greenhouse Gas Roadmap Update: Agriculture Roundtable." July 2023. Remote. Sustainable Agriculture Summit, WSARE. Mar. 2023. Santa Fe, NM. Changes/Problems:We were able to expand our initial scope of research to leverage the Stable Isotopes class project at UNM. Students re-sampled biocrusts that Dr. Rakes had sampled at one site in 2023. Their results are included in our Dr. Bethany Rakes was hired by private industry in August 2023 and Dr. Stricker has been unable to attract a new postdoctoral researcher. Undergrad students hired in summer 2023 became ineligible for continued work due to change to graduate school and insufficient coursework to qualify. Dr. Stricker plans to increased her FTE on the project beginning in May 2024 to complete manuscripts for submission by the end of the grant (1/31/25). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In 2023, Dr. Stricker prioritized training and professional development of postdoctoral researcher (Bethany Rakes) and two undergraduate student workers (Baltazar, Rindestig) associated with this grant. This included one-on-one trainings, field work and lab work as well as feedback on other professional documents such as cover letters/cvs and grant proposals. Dr. Bethany Rakes contributed to two successful grant proposals totaling >$200,000 that expand from the NIFA work. One was a WSARE grant to understand how compost microbes disperse from the amended plots and affect soil health, and the other was a NRCS grant to expand access to agricultural careers for traditionally underserved students. We also mentored a student group in the Stable Isotpes class to complete a class project and they will be included as coauthors in the upcoming biocrust and compost-focused manuscript. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Stricker participated in many outreach events from other partners. Stricker was an invited speaker. "Don't bust the crust and other ways to stave off (and recover from?) the apocalypse." Taos Center for the Arts Science on Screen Series. Nov. 2023. Taos, NM. Dr. Sticker tabled with an interactive exhibit on soil and compost microbes. Santa Ana Pueblo Environmental Fair. Aug. 2023. Santa Ana Pueblo, NM. Stricker attended the Quivira Coalition 2023 Fall Red Canyon Reserve Gathering (October 2023) to discuss how soil health principles and circular economy concepts relate to using organic amendments in rangeland management. We then toured the Armendaris Ranch experimental site and demonstrated monitoring techniques. Stricker made one stop at the Santa Ana Pueblo experimental site during a Quivira Coalition workshop (December 2023) with the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute natural resources department soil science class to discuss initial findings of the changes in microbial communities with organic amendments. Stricker discussed initial findings of the changes in microbial communities with organic amendments at a Guadalupe County Extension Soil Health workshop series in Puerta de Luna and Anton Chico New Mexico for producers and technical service providers. We were unable to complete a field day at Esquibel Ranch in summer 2023 due to some landowner conflict within the family; instead we were invited to contribute an article for the Resilience magazine that used Esquibel as the main focus. That magazine is distributed to >3000 people. Stricker, E. Bethany Rakes, J, O'Connell, M. 2023. "Souls of the Soil: Microbes and Managers Helping to Restore Degraded Rangelands." Resilience Magazine, Quivira Coalition. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will write and submit a manuscript of our soil, vegetation, and microbial results from the monsoon deployment Year 1 and year 2 trials as well as the manuscript focusing on the effects on biocrusts. Outreach: Dr. Stricker will present results of the study at the Ecological Society of America conference (August 2024) and the AFRI meeting in Kansas City (April 2024).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The major activities in this third year included: Field work: We completed the field work. Summer 2023 - We collected year-one and year-two on vegetation cover and diversity with transects, above and belowground plant biomass, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, and bulk density from plots set up in 2021 and 2022. Additional biocrust samples were collected for stable isotope analyses for a student project of a 400/500 level course at UNM. Lab work: We finished all soil DNA extractions for all year 1 and year 2 samples and sent them to the University of Arizona's Genetics Core for library preparation and DNA sequencing. We submitted samples to Univ. of Missouri for PLFA, CSU for forage analysis, soil nutrients, and compost analysis, and Oregon State Univ. for microbial biomass and B-glucosidase activity.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Bethany, J., Kutos, S., Oliver, K., and Stricker, E. Accepted. Spring manure- and biosolid compost additions affect soil, vegetation, and microbial characteristic in dry rangelands. Journal of Rangeland Ecology and Management
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Stricker, E, Cornell, E*, and Withers, Z*. Submitted. Compost amendments up to one inch restore dry rangeland soil health and plant productivity. Restoration Ecology.
*Agricultural Producers
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Keynote address: Society for Ecological Restoration Southwest. Organic amendments on dry rangelands: can principles of circular economy and soil health principles meet the needs of land stewards? Nov. 2023.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Stricker E. It depends and other aspects of microbial ecology in agriculture. REGENERATE conference. Nov. 2023. Santa Fe, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Bethany Rakes, J, Stricker, E, Kudos, S, and Oliver, K. 2023. Effects of compost amendments on rangeland soils, vegetation and microbial communities. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, OR.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Stricker, E, Bethany Rakes, J. Organic Amendments on Rangelands. 2023. Arizona Society of Range Management. Phoenix, AZ.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Dinan, M, Bethany Rakes, J, Stricker, E. 2023. Ecological Benefits of Compost for Rangeland Plant and Soil Health. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/749c795ed99f4b5e85149ca4d3830c79
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Progress 02/01/22 to 01/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Rangeland producers. In particular, we target communities in northern and central New Mexico that graze cattle in non-irrigated pastures. Our northern-most site in Tierra Amarilla is on a multi-generational ranch and adjacent to land grant communities who will be invited to outreach activities and provided white paper documents. Our central site is at Santa Ana Pueblo and outreach activities will target Tribal producers. Our southern site is on Armendaris Ranch, one of several ranches owned by Ted Turner. These ranches are geared towards cultural use, conservation and recreation and thus the target audiences are folks interested in the intersection of agriculture and conservation. Our primary communication with these communities are through field days (planned summers 2022 and 2023) and through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition (Dr. Stricker is employed there part-time) which has a podcast, conference, technical guides/white papers, newsletters/social media etc. that reach >4,000 people across the intermountain west with interest in regenerative agriculture. Academics. The questions about microbial community succession and functioning in a novel environment are at the cutting edge of microbial ecology research and can help advance fundamental questions about how soil microbial interactions affect biogeochemical cycling. We communicate with academics through conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and quarterly small-group zoom discussions with other compost researchers. We will invite an established researcher to UNM for the Biology Seminar to both connect that person to our broader UNM research community (grad students, undergrads, post-docs, etc.). Technical service providers. Organic amendment use for restoring degraded rangelands provides a novel tool for managers, extension agents, NRCS personnel, and others to actively manage towards their desired goals of soil health. We will outreach with these folks through the field days (summers 2022 and 2023) and through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition. Changes/Problems:Changes: Post-doc Kutos resigned in May, 2022 and we had to advertise, interview, and select his replacement so Dr. Bethany Rakes was not hired until July 2022; this was challenging to initiate field work with a new employee who was also partially remote, but we completed field work, lab work, and data processing on schedule despite the challenges. We were additionally able to expand our initial scope of research to leverage our new Post-doc's expertise as well as partner with Quivira. Sample biocrust Dr. Bethany Rakes is an expert in biocrust microbial composition, and so she wanted to investigate the effect of compost on the shallow soil microbial community. We sampled at one site in 2022. Teabag experiment We partnered with Quivira Coalition to conduct the global community science project "Teatime 4 science" at each site. Unfortunately, early snowfall and frozen ground meant we could not recover tea bags from the northern-most site. We will have an undergraduate weigh the remaining tea and that person can write up/present the data as a senior thesis in 2023. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In 2022, Dr. Stricker prioritized training and professional development of both postdoctoral researchers (Kutos, Bethany Rakes) and a graduate researcher (Oliver) associated with this grant. This includes one-on-one trainings, field work and lab work as well as feedback on other professional documents such as cover letters/cvs and grant proposals. Students and postdocs also participated in presentations and community service. Dr. Bethany Rakes is a guest editor for a special issue of Microorganisms. November 2022-present. Dr. Kutos was a panelist for an Ecological Society of America Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability program on career paths in biological sciences at the University of New Mexico Sevilleta Field Station. Spring 2022 Dr. Kutos was a judge on undergraduate student presentations for the University of New Mexico Undergraduate Research Opportunity Conference. Spring 2022. Dr. Kutos was a judge on undergraduate student presentations for the University of New Mexico Research Day in Biology. Spring 2022 Kutos S and Stricker E. Potential impact of compost amendments and associated microbial diversity on dry rangeland soils. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM. Feb. 2022Luna J, Kutos S, Stricker E. How the addition of compost to arid soil can improve plant growth. Potential impact of compost amendments and associated microbial diversity on dry rangeland soils. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM. Feb. 2022 Bethany Rakes, J., Kutos, S., Stricker, E. Adding compost to rangelands: Will it change microbial diversity and impact forage production? 16th Biennial Conference of Science and Management on the Colorado Plateau and Southwest Region. Flagstaff, AZ. Sept. 2022. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Oral presentations: Stricker E, DeVan, R, Kroeger. Rangeland compost amendments improve productivity and methane uptake. Society of Range Management Annual Conference. Albuquerque, NM. Feb. 2022 Field visit Dr. Stricker hosted one field visit to Armendaris Ranch in April 2022. She presented poster results from herself and Dr. Kutos, conducted a tour of the experimental site, and demonstrated monitoring activities. While 8 people were registered, unfortunately only 4 attended. Dr. Stricker and new post-doc Dr. Bethany Rakes tabled at the Santa Ana Pueblo Health and Environment Day. They presented interactive demonstrations such as a rainfall simulation, comparing soil with and without compost, and microscopic investigation of composts and biocrust organisms. Other outreach Dr. Kutos shared a poster and gave a presentation to the Santa Fe Climate Masters program at an event at Reunity Resources Santa Fe. Spring 2022 Dr. Kutos gave a seminar to the New Jersey Plant Society on the impacts of organic amendments including fertilizers and composts to plant growth and plant diversity. Spring 2022. CRI Director Stricker gave a UNM Taos Sustainable Agriculture guest lecture - Compost in Regenerative Agriculture. Taos, NM. Mar. 2022 We've provided written updates of results through abstracts and emails to ranch managers and owners. We engaged the University of New Mexico Fungal group on the potential impacts of organic amendments to fungal biomass and fungal community composition in the New Mexico local area. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Field and Lab Work: During the next reporting period we will complete monitoring of all plots for both years of deployment. We will also take all of the abovementioned vegetation and soil measurements from the plots we set up in the Year 1 and Year 2 to see how the compost amendments have impacted the soil and vegetation. In early spring 2023, we will also begin to process Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) nutrient addition and climatic data to be able to quantify effect sizes from our data in the context of the New Mexico and southwest region. In the spring of 2023, we will write and submit a manuscript of our Armendaris site, spring 2021 deployment, and in fall of 2023, we will write and submit a manuscript of our soil, vegetation, and microbial results from the monsoon deployment Year 1 trials. Outreach: Dr. Stricker and/or Dr. Bethany Rakes will present results of the study at the AZ Society of Range Management Meeting (February 2023) and at the Ecological Society of America conference (August 2023). We will complete a field day at Esquibel Ranch in summer 2023.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
To boost productivity and resilience on dryland rangelands, management such as compost applications have shown promise, but little is known about the efficacy in drylands. In this project we ask: under what conditions is compost most effective for dryland grazing, and how to microbes affect the outcomes for resilience and productivity? To that end, we completed a review paper geared at scientists and land managers about how compost may be a natural and working lands solution for climate change as part of an invited special issue for the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (accepted Nov. 2022). We are progressing towards completing a 3y field experiment testing types of compost and year of amendment on ecological and microbial community outcomes. For outreach with producers and technical service providers, we have partnered with the non-profit Quivira Coalition to hosted/attended two field days in summers 2022 and plan a final field day in summer 2023 to outreach with interested neighbors. The results from this study will enable producers to make informed decisions of compost sources, tests to complete, and expected returns on their investments for building soil health and circular economy on working lands. Additionally, it will provide novel insight to researchers of how novel microbial communities affect function. 1. Understand the effectiveness of compost application across a range of dryland conditions. We set up plots at three ranches and each site had three control plots, three manure-compost plots, and three food-compost with compost added in either 2021 or 2022. At each plot, we installed an exclosure to reduce herbivory from ungulates. We collected baseline data on vegetation cover and diversity with transects, above and belowground plant biomass, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, and bulk density. We collected soils and compost samples for sequencing. We added ibuttons to monitor surface temperature and/or humidity. At Armendaris ranch, we collected data on these same responses after 6 months for the spring-applied plots. We will collect final samples in summer 2023. Results: After 1 year of compost application in monsoon across all sites, compost applications affected some physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the ecosystems. There was no effect of compost type at any (Fig. 1, P > 0.05). There were significant increases in soil moisture at the Esquibel Ranch for both manure and food additions (55%) compared to the control (P < 0.05) but the Santa Ana Pueblo and Armendaris ranches had no significant differences (Fig. 2). Aboveground biomass in compost treated plots was significantly higher (155%; P < 0.05) at the Esquibel Ranch but no differences were found at the Santa Ana Pueblo or Armendaris ranches (Fig. 3). Median values for specific leaf area increased for both treatments at the Esquibel Ranch, though not significantly, and manure treated plots were highly variable (Fig. 4, P > 0.05). ß-glucosidase activity, a proxy for microbial activity, was not significantly different at any site (Fig. 5, P > 0.05). 2. Understand if the difference in microbial communities between the compost source and the target soil affects the soil and plant response We collected gravimetric water content and loss on ignition organic matter content of all soil and compost samples, sent samples for PLFA analysis and routine nutrient/carbon analyses. Illumina sequencing has been completed for year 1 baseline and responses, as well as baselines for year 2 from all 3 sites including all treatments and controls. Responses to year 1 treatment were also analyzed for biocrusts at the Santa Ana Pueblo Ranch. Bioinformatics has been completed and we will correlate year 1 responses in plant and soil responses to the microbial community. All of these analyses will be repeated for the plots set up in fall 2022 to increase sample size, and we can further assess longer-term responses of the plots set up in fall 2021 when we revisit the sites in fall 2023. Results, So far, we have found large differences in the initial microbial communities of the different composts and the native soils, especially in Gram-negative bacteria, Actinomycetes, and gram-positive bacteria (as measured by PLFA; Table 1). After 1 year of compost application native soil fungal and bacterial communities dominated all treatment plots (as measured by Illumina sequencing) in the top 10cm of soil. The bacterial communities of compost, control and treated plots from the Esquibel Ranch were similar, with Actinomycetales dominating. Compost applied at the Santa Ana Pueblo Ranch contained a higher relative abundance of Bacillales in contrast to greater Rhizobiales abundance in control and treated plots. Bacterial communities from compost applied at the Armendaris Ranch had fewer taxa that were unidentifiable and varied in relative abundances of Actinomycetales such that some compost, from BernCo and Manure, were relatively lower than treatments or controls. (Figs. 6-8). In general, fungal compost communities differed relatively from that of native soil communities and treatments (Figs. 6-8). Of all the sites, Esquibel's compost, control and treated plots were most similar, with Pleosporales the dominant taxon on average. Compost fungal communities at the Santa Ana Pueblo and Armendaris ranches differed from that of both control and treated plots as the community in treatment plots more closely matched that of controls than communities found in compost which were dominated by Pleosporales. Compost applied at the Santa Ana Pueblo and Armendaris ranches entirely lacked Pleosporales while this taxon dominated control and treatment plots. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) were also collected from the Santa Ana Pueblo Ranch to determine microbial community shifts (Fig. 9). Compost bacterial communities had higher proportions of Firmicutes than that of control and compost treated soils, with reductions from a quarter of the community in compost to roughly 5% in the treated plots. Cyanobacteria, a key contributor to biocrust primary production, composed on average 11% of the native soil community but were reduced to roughly 5% with compost treatment. Eurotiales dominated compost but was nearly absent from treatment and controls, where Pleosporales was again the most relatively abundant. 3. Evaluate the relative effect of compost nutrient content vs. microbial composition on outcomes across the diverse target ranches. We have sent samples of composts and soils for routine soil and compost analyses including total and available N, %C,P,K, etc. We can compare models that use nutrient values alone to those that include microbial composition to understand the relative contribution of inorganic and biological aspects of compost. Additionally, we will compare effect sizes of compost additions to effect sizes of inorganic fertilization experiments from the Jornada LTER, Sevilleta LTER, and Shortgrass Steppe LTER to compare the effect size of fertilization to compost addition across the gradient of the cooler, wetter sites to the hotter, drier sites. Key outcomes or other accomplishments realized. Key outcomes from Year 1 indicate that a single, 1/4" application of compost increases soil moisture and aboveground biomass in wetter environments (Esquibel Ranch). Distinct microbial communities found in compost appear to be outcompeted by native soil communities and fail to establish. Biocrusts specifically experience a reduction in cyanobacteria when compared to controls; however, this is an increase over levels found in compost. The compost did not blow or wash away and instead, when there was a precipitation event, the plots with compost were able to respond more readily.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kutos, S., Stricker, E., Cooper, A., Creque, J., Machmuller, M., Ryals, R., Kroeger, M., and Silver, W. accepted. Compost amendment to enhance carbon sequestration in rangelands. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.
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Progress 02/01/21 to 01/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Rangeland producers. In particular, we target communities in northern and central New Mexico that graze cattle in non-irrigated pastures. Our northern-most site in Tierra Amarilla is on a multi-generational ranch and adjacent to land grant communities who will be invited to outreach activities and provided white paper documents. Our central site is at Santa Ana Pueblo and outreach activities will target Tribal producers. Our southern site is on Armendariz Ranch, one of several ranches owned by Ted Turner. These ranches are geared towards conservation and recreation and thus the target audiences are folks interested in the intersection of agriculture and conservation. Our primary communication with these communities are through field days (planned summers 2022 and 2023) and through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition (Dr. Stricker is employed there part-time) which has a podcast, conference, technical guides/white papers, newsletters/social media etc. that reach >4,000 people across the intermountain west with interest in regenerative agriculture. Academics. The questions about microbial community succession and functioning in a novel environment are at the cutting edge of microbial ecology research and can help advance fundamental questions about how soil microbial interactions affect biogeochemical cycling. We will communicate with academics through conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and quarterly small-group zoom discussions with other compost researchers. We are also inviting an established researcher to UNM for the Biology Seminar to both connect that person to our broader UNM research community (grad students, undergrads, post-docs, etc.) and to have focused discussion time about our specific project at a key time point: if in discussion we find better ways to conduct the next year of research, we have time to request changes and implement more desirable activities. Technical service providers. Organic amendment use for restoring degraded rangelands provides a novel tool for managers, extension agents, NRCS personnel, and others to actively manage towards their desired goals of soil health. We will outreach with these folks through the field days (summers 2022 and 2023) and through our partnership with the Quivira Coalition (Dr. Stricker is employed there part-time) which has a podcast, conference, technical guides/white papers, newsletters/social media etc. that reach >4,000 people across the intermountain west with interest in regenerative agriculture. Changes/Problems:There are a few unexpected challenges over the past reporting period for the project that we have addressed. For instance, there was an issue obtaining certain consumables which has put our DNA extractions and DNA library preparation on hold. We were able to source these materials from different vendors to facilitate getting these DNA extractions complete. As with other labs across the world COVID protocols could impact the progress of our research goals. However, Dr. Stricker has developed carefully designed protocols for what to do if certain institutions will be closed or restrict access depending on local and state governmental actions. Note: I have a document of tables and figures that I will send separately - I don't see that option on the portal. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Stricker has prioritized training and professional development of both postdoctoral and undergraduate researchers associated with this grant. This includes one-on-one trainings on functional applications and operations of modern biogeochemical equipment including an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography machine. There have also been research trainings for one undergraduate work including field work (i.e., soil aggregate stability and New Mexican vegetation identification and surveys). Additionally, there were trainings on modern DNA extractions from soil along with quantification and library preparation for DNA sequencing. Dr. Stricker has also conducted small group mentorship on better writing in the sciences including publications, conferences abstracts, and conference presentations. Dr. Kutos presented his PhD research "Factors influencing soil fungal community composition and function in deciduous forests" for the UNM Biology Brownbag Seminar and for the UNM Fungal Group seminar. Dr. Kutos presented an overview of his PhD research for the New York Botanical Garden as well as gave a lesson in urban ecology for the Youth Corps of New Mexico. Dr. Stricker spoke at a career seminar "Mentor Mixer" for the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in September 2021. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We've provided written updates of results through abstracts and emails to ranch managers and owners. We have participated in outreach through the Quivira Coalition including a podcast episode (https://radiocafe.media/downtoearth-compost/) and conference workshop. We engaged the University of New Mexico Fungal group on the potential impacts of organic amendments to fungal biomass and fungal community composition in the New Mexico local area. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Field Work: During the next reporting period we will continue to complete the compost applications for the second-year trials. We will set-up the final 6 compost trial plots at each of our three sites (Armendariz Ranch, Esquibel Ranch, and Santa Ana Pueblo) in the spring-early summer of 2022. These will include three 8x8m plots with manure compost and three 8x8m plots of food-waste compost. These composts will be from the same source vendor as the first-year compost trials. As with the other plot set-ups we will install fence exclosures to inhibit herbivory from large herbivores. During the setup of the plots, we will also take baseline data including vegetation diversity, above- and below ground shoot and root biomass, as well as soil physical measurements including aggregate stability, inflation rate, and bulk density. We will also take soil samples to be used for DNA extractions and for soil elemental analysis. We will also install iButtons to each of the newly constructed plots to measure environmental data at each plot including ground temperature and ground humidity levels. Finally, we will also take all of the abovementioned vegetation and soil measurements from the plots we set-up in the Year 1 reporting period to see how the compost amendments have impacted the soil and vegetation (all from 2021). Lab Work: After all samples and data are collected in the field, we will begin the labwork portion (Summer 2022 to Fall 2022). This includes soil and compost sample processing including gravimetric water content, routine nutrient analysis as well as microbial sample processing including DNA extraction, DNA library preparation, PFLA analysis, microbial biomass, and extracellular enzyme assays. Once fully processed we will send these samples for analysis - including high-throughput DNA sequencing at the University of Arizona's Sequencing Core. In early spring 2022, we will also begin to process Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) nutrient addition and climatic data to be able to quantify effect sizes from our data in the context of the New Mexico and southwest region. In the fall of 2022, we will write and submit a manuscript of our soil, vegetation, and microbial results from the Year 1 trials. Outreach: Dr. Kutos will give a seminar to the New Jersey Plant Society on the impacts of organic amendments including fertilizers and composts to plant growth and plant diversity Dr. Kutos will give a seminar to the University of New Mexico Fungal Group on how the different composts amendments from our Year 1 trials have impacted soil fungal communities and how variation in community composition might impact community functionality.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In light of climate change, we must support productive and resilient dryland rangelands to promote healthy soils, ensure livelihoods for ranchers, and provide quality food for consumers. To boost productivity and resilience, management such as compost applications have shown promise, but little is known about the efficacy in drylands. We are working with a coalition of compost researchers to compile a review paper geared at scientists and land managers about how compost may be a natural and working lands solution for climate change as part of an invited special issue for the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (to be submitted April 2022). For outreach with producers and technical service providers, we have partnered with the non-profit Quivira Coalition to provide an online workshop (REGENERATE), an in-person presentation (Recycling Coalition Conference), and podcast (Down to Earth) to alert regional producers about how using compost supports the healthy soil principles. We plan to host field days in summers 2022 and 2023 at each ranch for interested neighbors. We asked: under what conditions is compost most effective for dryland grazing? So far, we have promising initial (Armendariz Ranch; 6 months) results that both manure-based compost and biosolid-based compost result in upto 50% increases in aboveground biomass, increased aggregate stability, and may upake greenhouse gasses such as methane and N20, which are extremely promising for dryland ranchers and land managers to build resilience to variable rainfall and for those who are potentially interested in emerging soil carbon markets. We will discover in fall 2022 how the compost additions affected productivity and soil health across a gradient from a cooler, wetter ranch (Esquibel), intermediate (Santa Ana Pueblo) to the hotter, drier ranch (Armendariz) to understand where it may be the most effective. Additionally, we asked how does the microbial community of the added compost affect soil characteristics, plant productivity and forage quality, and how large is the effect of the microbial community compared to the effect of slow-release fertilization? So far, we found large differences in the microbial communities of the first samples of different composts, and different communities compared to the native soils, especially in Gram-negative bacteria, Actinomycetes, and gram-positive bacteria (as measured by PLFA). When we have qPCR data, we will be able to refine these differences down to more robust taxonomic information. Thus, we will be able to assess the correlations of the different initial microbial communities to the magnitude of change of different productivity and soil health responses to hypothesize which groups or taxa are driving the changes. We will also be able to assess how well commercially available tests such as PLFA do at predicting observed responses compared to the detailed information of qPCR. At the same time, we are compiling long-term inorganic fertilization experiments from the Jornada LTER, Sevilleta LTER, and Shortgrass Steppe LTER to compare the effect size of fertilization to compost addition across the gradient of the cooler, wetter sites to the hotter, drier sites. For example, at the Sevilleta LTER, inorganic N additions increased aboveground biomass 15-30% in the first year of 3 different experiments, suggesting that our observed increase of 50% may be the result of microbial and organic matter additions in addition to the effect of a slow-release fertilizer, but more replication is needed to make sound conclusions. 1. Understand the effectiveness of compost application across a range of dryland conditions We set up plots at three ranches across a gradient of dryland conditions. We set up fifteen plots at Armendariz Ranch. Three control plots, three manure-compost plots in spring 2021, three biosolid compost plots in spring 2021, three manure-compost plots in fall 2021, three food-compost plots in fall 2021 (allowing us to compare seasonal differences in set-up of manure compost). We set up nine plots each at Santa Ana Pueblo and Esquibel Ranch. Three control plots, three manure-compost plots, and three food-compost plots at each site in fall 2021. At each plot, we installed an exclusure to reduce herbivory from ungulates. We collected baseline data on vegetation cover and diversity with transects, above and belowground plant biomass, infiltration rate, aggregate stability, and bulk density. We collected soils and compost samples for sequencing. We added ibuttons to monitor surface temperature and/or humidity. At Armendariz ranch, we collected data on these same responses after 6 months for the spring-applied plots. To understand the effect of ambient climatic conditions, the same composts will be applied at each ranch in fall 2022 so that differences in antecedent and subsequent precipitation and temperature can be compared for year one outcomes. 2. Understand if the difference in microbial communities between the compost source and the target soil affects the soil and plant response We collected gravimetric water content and loss on ignition organic matter content of all soil and compost samples, sent samples for PLFA analysis and routine nutrient/carbon analyses, archived root samples for future sequencing of plating of fungal endophytes and collected fungal morphotype colonization data of dominant grass species from each plot. Twenty-six samples have been extracted for DNA before global supply chain issues disrupted this activity; we have just this past week received our back-ordered pipet tips and will complete the DNA extractions by 2/28/21 and send these to University of Arizona for qPCR of fungi and bacteria. We plan to complete bioinformatics by the end of the Spring semester 2022 and we will correlate year 1 responses in plant and soil responses to the microbial community. All of these analyses will be repeated for the plots set up in fall 2022 to increase sample size, and we can further assess longer-term reponses of the plots set up in fall 2021 when we revisit the sites in fall 2023. 3. Evaluate the relative effect of compost nutrient content vs. microbial composition on outcomes across the diverse target ranches. We have sent samples of composts and soils for routine soil and compost analyses including total and available N, %C,P,K, etc. We can compare models that use nutrient values alone to those that include microbial composition to understand the relative contribution of inorganic and biological aspects of compost. Additionally, we will compare effect sizes of compost additions to effect sizes of inorganic fertilization experiments from the Jornada LTER, Sevilleta LTER, and Shortgrass Steppe LTER to compare the effect size of fertilization to compost addition across the gradient of the cooler, wetter sites to the hotter, drier sites. Review paper We have so far screened 490 publications and determined that approximately 50 of these meet the qualifications for our review and we are progressing through extracting the significant trends for compost vs. control for all responses that relate to greenhouse gas fluxes. So far, we have a dataset of 126 comparisons from 11 published papers with responses including organic carbon, aboveground biomass, runoff quantity and quality, soil nutrient content, plant community, and others that relate to ecosystem response to and contribution to climate change. We plan to complete this dataset by 2/15/22 in order to synthesis the review paper and submit by 4/1/22. Key outcomes Key outcomes from this first year include preliminary evidence that a single, 1/4" application of compost may increase productivity in drylands, even when there was a drought for most of the six months of deployment. The compost did not blow or wash away and instead, when there was a precipitation event, the plots with compost were able to respond more readily.
Publications
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