HOW AGRICULTURAL ANTIBIOTICS AND MANURE INTERACT TO SHAPE SOIL COMMUNITIES, ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

This project explores how antibiotics present in livestock waste influence microbial and invertebrate communities. We predict that the introduction of these biologically active products can disrupt the natural function and health of agricultural ecosystems. Through the disruption of natural microbial communities, the ability for soils to retain and recycling important nutrients may be diminished. We also may find that carbon storage is reduced due to the increased metabolic stress of microbial communities under antibiotic attack. Similarly, if antibiotics harm the native invertebrate community, we may find that soils have reduced rates of decomposition and lower moisture retention. The soil texture may also be disrupted through the removal of key ecosystem engineers like Annelida. This project will fill a critical gap in our knowledge of how both antibiotic compounds and manure inputs shape soil function, while also linking soil health to human health.Primary Objectives(1) Determine how antibiotic additions affect ecosystem function in agricultural soils(2) Examine how microbial and invertebrate communities respond to antibiotics(3) Assess how antibiotic additions influence antibiotic resistant gene abundance anddiversity