Mpeketula, P. and S.S. Snapp.
Presented at the All Scientist Meeting (2013-04-04 to 2013-04-05 )
Terrestrial ecosystems appear to remove substantial portion of the anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere (Treseder and Allen, 2000). The restoration of soil carbon pools through the reduction of landuse intensity is a potentially high impact, rapidly deployable strategy for offsetting atmospheric CO2 increases (Grandy and Robertson, 2007). Increased soil carbon storage has also been linked to improved soil health and agricultural productivity through amelioration of many important soil properties. However mechanisms behind this carbon storage are not well understood, even though knowledge about the mechanisms is vital in prediction and interpretation of the ecosystem responses to global climatic change and strategizing for sustainable agriculture. Previous studies have shown that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provide a number of beneficial ecosysytem services including improvement of soil structure and influencing major element cycles including the carbon cycle. Our main goal in this study is to examine the influence of mycorrhizae on soil carbon accumulation, soil aggregation and water infiltration along a management intensity gradient whose ecosystems that lie on the similar or same soil type at the KBS-LTER, in SW Michigan.
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