What is switchgrass?Panicum Virgatum (Switchgrass) is a temperate bunchgrass native to North American and naturally grows from latitude 55 down to Mexico. Switchgrass is widely considered a strong candidate as a second generation biofuel crop. The Department of Energy has significant interest in whether Switchgrass can be grown sustainably on marginal land soil, while maintaining maximum yields comparable to high quality soils. Marginal land soils, although there are many definitions, are considered land with little to no ability for agricultural crops to profit land owners, which can be the result of low soil fertility, undeveloped land, and/or have land formations difficult for agricultural equipment use.
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Photo: (Rincon-Florez et al. 2013)
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Microbial Community Response to Switchgrass Exudation in Marginal Land SoilSubstantial research has been focused on maximizing Switchgrass crop yields and determining its viability as a biofuel crop, However, little is known about the influence of Switchgrass exudates on the soil microbially mediated processes.. In particular, there is limited evidence linking Switchgrass exudate chemistry influences microbially mediated nitrogen cycling including nitrification, mineralization fixation and denitrification. My research seeks to understand how the microbially mediated processes are influenced and contribute to our understanding of the nitrogen cycle and to understand the potential contributions of marginal land switchgrass to the biofuel greenhouse gas budget.
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Microbial Community Response to Drought and Soil RewettingI am currently evaluating the impact of draught on microbial communities and what life strategies microorganisms regulating nitrogen cycling use to respond to draught in Switchgrass fields. Some of microbial strategies that I am interested in evaluating include, the ability of microorganisms to internally concentrate osmolytes in order to retain water (reduce osmotic stress) during draught. Other microorganisms may utilize dormancy or low metabolic state strategies to survive draught, while other microorganisms lack strategies to cope with longer term draught. Upon soil rewetting, microorganisms that survive draught are likely to exert the strongest regulatory forces on carbon and nitrogen cycling.
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