Developing a trait-based framework for predicting soil microbial community response to extreme climatic events
It’s with great pleasure that we welcome you to the official web page of our project: “Developing a trait-based framework for predicting soil microbial response to extreme climatic events”. We hope this blog will make our research accessible to researchers in microbial ecology and climate change, but also to science enthusiasts interested in uncovering the “insides of research”. To find out the importance of our research in academia, potential outreach impact and recent advances on the experiments performed, check our news page or follow us on Twitter at @climate_soil.
War, pestilence, even climate change, are trifles by comparison. Destroy the soil and we all starve.
George Monbiot
About Us
For more information about the people and institutions involved in this project, visit our About page.
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What is root scanning?
(And why does it take so long?!) Our lab has been using the root scanner as a tool for root trait analysis for a few years now. The scans are analysed with WinRHIZO software which provides (among other things) structural root trait information such as total root length, average root diameter and root volume. As in… Read more
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Experiment Three Harvest Summary
The last few months have been very busy for our project. Added to the general chaos of life in an everchanging pandemic, we haven’t found the time to update our social media very much. We have been productive though; the greenhouse phase of experiment three was completed before Christmas so all efforts are now on… Read more
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The New Greenhouse and the Next Phase
On my first day back at work after a short holiday, and Océane’s first day out of quarantine after flying back to Manchester from France, something wonderful happened… The university took official ownership of our shiny new modern greenhouse building! After years of general delays and 6 months of COVID delays, we were finally allowed… Read more
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Experiment 3 Progress
We are now about 20 weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The lockdown was largely lifted across the country but then a local lockdown was reinstated in Manchester. Thankfully the new rules do not affect our access or ability to proceed. The University of Manchester started slowly reopening research facilities in phases about… Read more
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Ladybird larvae in lockdown
By the time I finished the first pass of weeding, the pots at the beginning already had some new weeds sprouting, as shown in this photo of a pot that should be a soil blank. I ordered some fly paper when I first noticed the aphid issue – it isn’t particularly helpful against the ones… Read more
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Polytunnel Progress
The University of Manchester is still in lockdown, with all learning online, and every member of staff possible working from home. So for now, instead of the swanky new greenhouses we were promised many years ago, we are growing our plants in a large and slightly draughty polytunnel – but it’s better than nothing! Each… Read more
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Corona Chaos
Like everyone else, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, social distancing measures and subsequent lockdown in the UK has had a huge impact on experiment three of the project. After months of preparation and methodical batch germination, we had just reached the potting out stage of our microbial community experiment. The plan was to plant our seedlings… Read more
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Introducing myself
Hi, I am Océane, I arrived in the Soil Ecosystem lab 2 years ago to work on this project as a postdoc. I did my PhD thesis on plant/microbe interactions in a small city called Nancy, located in the North East of France. I studied a beech tree forest, where, despite a natural pH and… Read more
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Writing Retreat
And what a treat it was! In early March, the Soil and Ecosystem Ecology Lab headed to the Peak District for a writing retreat. The trip was instigated by Dave Johnson, and planned mostly by Debbie Ashworth, Hayley Craig, Mathilde Chomel and me (Holly Langridge). The majority of the lab, from MSc students to post-docs,… Read more
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Suboptimal Conditions
I’ve been sieving the soil (not constantly you’ll be pleased to hear) for about two weeks now. Big, dirty jobs like this generally take place at the university botanical grounds, colloquially known as The Firs. We used to have a row of large but very dilapidated glasshouses. They were torn down last year so a… Read more
Microbial response to extreme climatic events 