Soil Ecology in the Slaughter Lab

Our lab works to better understand how soil microorganisms function and interact with plants across a variety of semi-arid ecosystems to ultimately influence key ecosystem characteristics and processes that influence nutrient cycles, water storage and movement, climate impact, and plant productivity.

Some research questions we address are:

• How do conservation management strategies alter soil health and microbial communities?
• How do soil and rhizosphere microbiomes influence plant response to environmental stress such as drought and pathogens?
• What controls microbially-mediated greenhouse gas emissions from semi-arid soils?