Agricultural News
No-till on the Plains Webinar Over Soil Potential Available Now
Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:59:25 CDT
No-till on the Plains recently held a No-till University Webinar, which featured Dr. Kris Nichols a Soil Microbiologist. The topic of discussion at the webinar was "The Living Soils: Microbes Description and General Activities." Dr. Nichols discussed the microbial interaction taking place in soils and the potential in these soils.
If you missed this first webinar with Dr. Nichols, you can watch the webinar online - just click here to watch them now.
Dr. Nichols grew up on a primarily corn-soybean farm in southwestern Minnesota. She joined the research group at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, North Dakota in June, 2003 as a Soil Microbiologist. Nichols received her Bachelor of Science degrees in Plant Biology and in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota in 1995, a Masters degree in Environmental Microbiology from West Virginia University in 1999, and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Maryland in 2003.
Since 1993, Nichols has studied arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi - a plant-root symbiont. Her most recent work involves the investigation of glomalin - a glycoproteinaceous substance produced by AM fungi. Glomalin contributes to nutrient cycling by protecting AM hyphae that are transporting nutrients from the soil to the plant in exchange for carbon from the plant and to soil structure and plant health by helping to form and stabilize soil aggregates.
Nichols has found glomalin is a major component of soil organic matter (ca. 15-20%) in undisturbed soils and may be agriculturally managed soil carbon sink. Dr. Nichols has been examining the impacts of crop rotations, tillage practices, livestock grazing management on soil aggregation, water relationships, and glomalin at Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory.
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