U.S.-Sweden Cooperative Research: Microbial Ecology of Grasslands

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This three-year award supports U.S.-Sweden cooperative research on grassland microbial ecology between R. Peter Herman of New Mexico State University and Anna Martensson of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The award adds an international dimension to the Jornada LTER (Long-term Ecological Research) site on desert grasslands and allows for comparative research with pasture grasslands near Uppsala, Sweden. The objective of the research is to study: (1) changes in microbial community structure and function associated with woody plant invasion intograsslands; and (2) the transfer of nitrogen between legumes and non-legumes and the role that mycorrhizal fungi play in the transfer. The investigators will compare juniper and rose shrub invasions of pasture grasslands with creosote invasions of desert grasslands. They will also study questions related to mycorrhizae mediated nitrogen transfer. This international project connects two long-term ecological research sites with two distinctive ecosystems. It allows for comparative investigations and for the development of long-term data sets collected in the United States and Sweden.