The study investigated whether increasing plant diversity through use of undersown species in field ecosystems can affect the structure and functioning of microbial communities to promote soil health and carbon sequestration.
The study investigated whether increasing plant diversity through use of undersown species in field ecosystems can affect the structure and functioning of microbial communities to promote soil health and carbon sequestration. Specifically, the study examined how the growth, community structure, and carbon use efficiency of root microbes respond to plant species.
“Our findings indicate that promoting plant diversity in agriculture could be an effective strategy for improving carbon sequestration of agricultural soils. This finding provides much needed evidence-based support for developing sustainable agricultural policy in the European Union,” says project lead and Professor Anna-Liisa Laine from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki.
According to the researchers, the expansion of agricultural land has caused a reduction in soil carbon, a problem whose resolution is central to curbing climate change.
Read More: University of Helsinki
Barley was grown in test plots either on its own or with one, two, four or eight undersown species. (Photo Credit: Anna-Liisa Laine)
