Soils in the Anthropocene: The Effect of Plant Communities and Their Microbial Associations on Soil Biogeochemistry

Session ID#: 124846

Session Description:
The structure of plant communities (i.e., the plants’ identities and abundances) can have large effects on soil biogeochemical cycles. These effects can stem from the plant's use of soil resources (water and nutrients), their contribution of detritus and SOM (through the quality and quantity of their leaf litter, fine roots, and root exudates), and their associations with soil microbial communities (beneficial associations with mutualists or antagonistic associations with pathogens). Of these, how plant-microbial associations affect soil biogeochemistry is arguably the least explored. In this session, we welcome all presentations that link plant communities to soil biogeochemical cycling, especially those considering plant interactions with symbiotic organisms (mycorrhizal fungi, N-fixing bacteria) and non-symbiotic free-living microbes.
Index Terms:

0428 Carbon cycling [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
0439 Ecosystems, structure and dynamics [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
0470 Nutrients and nutrient cycling [BIOGEOSCIENCES]
0486 Soils/pedology [BIOGEOSCIENCES]


Primary Convener:  Caitlin Hicks Pries, Dartmouth College, Department of Biological Sciences, Hanover, NH, United States
Conveners:  Richard P Phillips, Indiana University, Department of Biology, Bloomington, IN, United States and Ashley Lang, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States
Primary Liaison:  Caitlin Hicks Pries, Dartmouth College Life Sciences Center, room 349 78, Hanover, NH, United States
See more of: Biogeosciences