EVALUATING INTEGRATED LAND RESTORATION TO IMPROVE BELOWGROUND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH OF US MIDWEST CROPLANDS

The proposed project has three objectives: (1) Quantify belowground function, measured as C and N storage and turnover, across a restoration chronosequence; (2) Test the effects of past row-crop agricultural management and microbial functional memory on belowground ecosystem services following land restoration; and (3) Quantify changes in soil microbial diversity and size and the relationship to belowground ecosystem health across a restoration chronosequence.