Growing soil organic carbon in dryland agricultural systems
Mark Farrell A B C * and Gupta Vadakattu A BA CSIRO Agriculture & Food, Kaurna Country, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
B CSIRO Microbiomes for One Systems Health Future Science Platform, Kaurna Country, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
C UWA School of Agriculture & Environment, The University of Western Australia, Whadjuk Noongar Country, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
Dr Mark Farrell is a biogeochemist, with primary interests in carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils, and the impacts of management and environmental change on these processes. Principally working alongside microbiologists, he utilises a range of cutting-edge analytical techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance and mid infrared spectroscopy, as well as stable- and radio-isotopes to understand the composition and flows of carbon and nitrogen through the environment, and how these are moderated by the microbial community. |
Dr Gupta Vadakattu investigates on aspects of genetic and functional diversity, functional capability and resilience of soil biota in agricultural soils. Special interests include: genetic, functional and environmental regulators of biological disease suppression in soils, phenotypic and functional diversity of microbiota in the rhizosphere systems, diversity and functional capacity of diazotrophs in annual and perennial crops and turnover to carbon, nutrients and biological health of soils. |
Microbiology Australia 44(1) 18-21 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA23005
Submitted: 17 January 2023 Accepted: 2 February 2023 Published: 20 February 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the ASM. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a crucial role in dryland agricultural systems, improving resilience, productivity and delivering a range of ecosystem services including carbon (C) sequestration and broader ecosystem health. Although the net primary production (NPP) is the principal source of C inputs to soil, plant–microbe interactions can help increase NPP and stimulate plant C inputs to the soil through a variety of mechanisms. Additionally, the soil microbial community plays a crucial role in the loss (CO2 respiration) and stabilisation of SOC. With improved understanding of soil microbiomes and plant–microbe interactions, there are new emerging strategies in which microorganisms may be harnessed either directly or indirectly to increase the amount of C added and stabilised in dryland soils.
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