Effect of Soil Structure and Microbial Matrix Production on Water Retention
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| Global Climate Models predict changing climate will result in catastrophic terrestrial returns of carbon to the atmosphere (Cox et al., 2000)†. | Physical and structure and matrix: examples of non-aggregated (left) and aggregated (middle) soil geometries with hydrogel (middle). | Extra-cellular matrix produced by bacteria can dramatically shift water retention curves (Or et al, 2007; Robertson & Firestone, 1992)†. |
Global climate models predict increasing world temperatures may lead to a catastrophic loss of terrestrial carbon as soil moisture drops below the wilting point of plants (above, left). However, microbially-produced hydrogels have long been known to dramatically shift the moisture retention curve (above, right). We are building micro-structured system to better understand the potential for soil bacteria to alter moisture retention in soils as a function of changing climate (above, center).
People Involved: Andrea Kadilak, Jessica Chau, Emily Anderson
Funding: CESE Graduate Fellowship
†Cox, P.M., R.A. Betts, C.D. Jones, S.A. Spall, and I.J. Totterdell. Acceleration of global warming due to carbon cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model. Nature, 2000. 408: p. 184-187.
†Or, D., B.F. Smets, J.M. Wraith, A. Dechesne, and S.P. Friedman. Physical constraints affecting bacterial habitats and activity in unsaturated porous media - a review. Advances in Water Resources, 2007. 30(6-7): p. 1505-1527. Roberson, E.B., and M.K. Firestone. 1992. Relationship between desiccation and exopolysaccharide production in a soil Pseudomonas sp. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:1284-1291.