Integrated Soil Biology Management: Using Next-Gen Sequencing to Monitor Soil Biology Taxonomy and Function.

The use of indices to approximate complex changes is common to a wide variety of fields ranging from biology to economics. The potential benefit is that they can be easily understood, compared across sites, and have the potential to document changes arising from the simultaneous input of multiple signals. Soils are comprised of physical, chemical, and biological factors. Of these, the first two are arguably the best understood and can be assessed by a wide variety of methods. Although advances in techniques (e.g., enzymatic, next-gen-sequencing, PLFA, etc.) have increased our ability to assess the biological component of soils the relevant factors or indices of an active and healthy soil biological component is lacking. This talk will use several on-going research studies to examine the utility of a soil biology index that is relevant to agriculture and agricultural management decisions. Specific topics include: (i) index response to management, (ii) ability to identify specific problems, and (iii) comparability across management systems.