THE INFLUENCE OF UNDER-VINE COVER CROPS ON SOIL HEALTH: TAKING A ROOT-CENTRIC APPROACH TO MICROBIOME ANALYSIS

Long-term viability of fruit crop production relies on avoiding early crop decline. Identifying how increased plant biodiversity may lead to resilience of young crops to stress by shifting microbial interactions is of growing interest. However, current examinations of the rhizosphere microbiome neglect the importance of key root traits in structuring microbial communities. Our ability to shape management practices that harness the microbiome for improvements in long-term productivity and soil health is limited until we adopt a more root-centric approach.We will investigate how root traits structure the microbiome in response to multiple management practices (cover crops, rootstock selection) in grapevines. This will provide new insights into specific factors driving root-microbe interactions, moving beyond census-based descriptive approaches.Over multiple years, we will use 1-m deep root-observation boxes to monitor root traits of different branching order, type and age and collect roots with specific traits and associated rhizospheric soil for microbial community analysis. This will address our objectives: 1) define the major root traits (e.g., age, branching order, type) structuring root and rhizosphere microbial composition, 2) examine how proximity to grass cover crop roots shift the root-associated microbiome of a woody fruit crop species, and 3) characterize root dynamics and rhizospheric microbial community abundance and diversity by depth in a woody perennial system in response to management practices. Training of 2 undergraduates per year and 1 graduate student will be supported.