POWRE: Soil Organic Matter Fractions and Dynamics in Experimental Tropical Ecosystems

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Russell 9973314Soil organic matter fractions and dynamics in experimental tropical ecosystems.Land degradation in the tropics translates into lower agricultural productivity and increased poverty at the local level. Loss of inherent soil fertility also has the potential to act at the global level to exacerbate climate change. The long-term goal of this research is to elucidate biological mechanisms that regulate the rejuvenation of soil fertility in degraded soils. The PI will investigate how and why soil organic matter dynamics are influenced by species composition and length of time between harvests in experimental forest plantations in Costa Rica. She will develop laboratory methods for characterizing soil organic matter dynamics and interpret the results using a process-based modeling approach. The broader objective is to increase our understanding of management impacts on key biological processes such that we can design more sustainable agroforestry systems.