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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394044
Research Project: Development of Sugar Beet Germplasm Enhanced for Resistance to Important and Emerging Plant Pathogens

Location: Soil Management and Sugarbeet Research

Title: Carbon stabilization of two switchgrass ecotypes 5 years after pulse-chase 13C labeling

Author
item Stewart, Catherine
item Yoshioka, Miho
item Manter, Daniel
item Sarath, Gautam
item Jin, Virginia
item Schmer, Marty

Submitted to: Soil Ecology Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/4/2022
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: No Interpretive Summary is required for this Abstract Only. JLB.

Technical Abstract: Perennial cellulosic bioenergy crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) can improve marginally productive cropland and sequester C throughout the soil profile. Switchgrass ecotypes vary in their belowground plant allocation and rooting characteristics which could impact soil C cycling and rhizodeposit contributions to microbial community abundance and composition. Soil C formed through root structural material may be less stable than rhizosphere soil C processed by the soil microbial community and stabilized by close association with silt and clay particles. Switchgrass has a broad range of phenotypes (ecotypes) that differ in belowground plant allocation, rooting characteristics, and root chemistry that could impact the form and stability of soil C. Our study examines the chemical diversity of two switchgrass ecotypes with different root architectures on the form and stability of plant-derived soil organic C five years after a pulse-chase 13C labeling experiment. We report results of C, d13C and chemistry by py-GC/MS of root biomass and rhizosphere soil of the two switchgrass ecotypes.