Exploiting plant-soil feedbacks to provide economic and environmental benefits

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Plants interact with soil in a variety of ways that result in both positive and negative feedbacks. For example, plant root exudates may stimulate soil microbes, which in turn can lead to higher soil nutrient mineralization rates and, subsequently, higher plant nutrient uptake (i.e., positive feedback). Alternatively, plants may deplete soil nutrient reserves or build-up soil-borne pathogens, thereby preventing the reproduction of individuals under their parent plants (i.e., negative feedback). The guiding principle of my research program is that feedbacks such as these can be exploited to improve the production of commercially-valued crops and woody biomass, as well as to reduce some of the associated environmental impacts. Specifically, over the next five years my research program will strive to (1) maintain beneficial symbiotic soil fungi following the cultivation of canola as a biofuel crop, (2) reduce non-point source pollution by promoting tree-based intercropping systems, (3) control deer browsing of regenerating balsam fir forests in Eastern Canada, and (4) provide scientific evidence that plant diversity improves the stability of soil microbial processes. Results will be relevant and applicable to the management of renewable resources, to the development of policy on biodiversity issues, and to provide guidelines for the certification of production practices. The beneficiaries of this research program are stakeholders in the Canadian agriculture and forest industries, as well as all environmentally-conscious Canadians.