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Climatic conditions, management practice, influence soil microbial communities
Media Invitation
Contact: Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org. Please RSVP by October 25, 2014
Oct. 17, 2014— The Southern High Plains of Texas received 1/10th of its average precipitation and experienced a record-breaking summer with an historical three hottest months from June to August 2011. Veronica Acosta-Martinez, a researcher with the USDA-ARS, used this extreme weather event as an opportunity to study the soil microbial community in agroecosystems under extreme climatic stress.
She will present her findingsduring the Grand Challenges, Great Solutions ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meetings in Long Beach, California, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2014. The meeting is sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.
“Most of the research on this topic has been manipulated studies,” says Acosta-Martinez. In those cases, researchers systematically change variables such as the amount of water a system receives, or the temperature it is exposed to. “Our research focused on the reaction of the soil microbial community to concurrent multiple natural changes. We also saw that microbes still showed differentiated activity with rotated crops than monoculture regardless of the extreme conditions experienced. How we treat our soils matters, and it will be more important to select best agricultural management practices for specific areas during extreme weather events. We need to maintain the integrity of the soils to grow food…and microbes are an important part of the soil.”
For more information about the Grand Challenges, Great Solutions meeting sponsored by American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America, visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/. Media are invited to attend the conference. Pre-registration by Oct. 20, 2014, is required. Visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/newsroom for registration information.
To speak with Dr. Acosta-Martinez, contact Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org to arrange an
interview.