COVER CROP DIVERSIFICATION FOR MANAGING THE SOIL MICROBIOME AND AGRO-ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS

The overall goal of this research is to evaluate how different elements of cover crop diversification relate to a variety of agroecosystem components that span the complete plant-soil-microbial system. Specifically, we aim to elucidate underlying relationships that link cover crop diversity with the soil microbiome and ecosystem functions that can be used to design more beneficial cover crop mixtures. Our central hypothesis is that individual cover crop species will vary in how much they contribute additional plant functional traits or soil microbial diversity to a mixture. Further, we expect that combining cover crop species to achieve different amounts and types of diversity will result in varying enhancements of agro-ecological benefits. We will use greenhouse and field experiments designed to achieve the following objectives:Characterize the plant functional traits and soil microbiome of a range of common cover crop species.Contrast how increasingly diverse cover crop mixtures selected for plant functional traits vs soil microbiome affect agro-ecological benefits.Differentiate cover crop mixtures selected for heterogeneous vs. homogeneous diversity in plant functional traits and soil microbiomes in enhancing agro-ecological benefits.