Soil Biology Laboratory   

Christopher Blackwood

Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University

Overview Current Projects Lab Members Publications Teaching Links

 

 

CURRENT PROJECTS

 

Regional-Scale Interactions Between Soil Microbial Communities and Lobelia siphilitica, a Low-Abundance but Widely-Distributed Herbaceous Perennial Plant

    While it is known that both soil type and plant species identity affect soil microorganisms, ecological mechanisms behind regional patterns in soil microbial community composition are not well understood.  Furthermore, it is unclear what are the impacts of differences in soil microbial community composition on plant populations in natural environments.  In this study, we tested whether regional-scale spatial patterns in soil microbial community composition were consistent with differing models of metacommunity organization, and whether the type of organization was altered by the microhabitat sampled.  Microhabitat was defined as presence or absence of Lobelia siphilitica, an herbaceous plant species with broad variation in population size (10-1000+ individuals). 

    In a second experiment, we demonstrated that regional-scale variability in soil microbial community composition may mediate plant population size through differences in plant-soil feedback.  This interaction may therefore be an important consideration in the conservation of rare plant species.

 

Cross-Guild Metacommunity Organization

    We are characterizing microbial, plant, and animal communities across a temperate forest (Jennings Woods) with variable hydrology and soils.  To test hypotheses about how ecological guilds interact on regional and local scales, metacommunity models of community assembly are being compared for multiple ecological guilds across the same environment.  Molecular methods are coupled with biogeochemical measurements to determine microbial community composition and functional traits.

 

Evolutionary Analysis of Tradeoffs Between Root Morphology and Mycorrhizal Communities in Trees

 

Functional Ecology of Fungal Community Assembly and Decomposition of Senesced Leaves

 

Evolution of Pectinase in Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 28

 

Molecular and Cultivation-Based Characterization of Ancient Microbial Mats from the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica

 

Methane Production and Consumption in a Vernal Pool Landscape