WELDA — To a worm, the soil is a world teeming with activity.
Intricate root systems deliver oxygen to help the soil breathe. Water flows over the thirsty roots. Tiny organisms create paths through the roots and dirt.
But go even smaller, too small to be seen by the naked eye, to the size of a carbon molecule. Become part of the root system. Observe the fungi and other microorganisms that search for organic material to recycle into carbon-rich nutrients. Form a partnership with the plant to protect it from disease or increase its ability to withstand drought.
“We see land from the human perspective, but there’s so much going on below ground that’s really running a lot of the show,” Theo Michaels, a graduate student at the University of Kansas, said. “Microbes are turning the wheels down there, breaking down organic matter that’s feeding the plants. It’s like us. If we don’t have a good microbiome, we’re not going to digest our food and make the most of ourselves.”
Michaels is researching the microbiology of soil as part of her graduate degree with the University of Kansas Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Her research project is located just north of Allen County, at the Anderson County Prairie Preserve. Motorists will be familiar with the property, even though they may be unaware of its purpose. The land is about a mile or two north of Welda, bisected by U.S. 169 as it winds through a small section of rolling hills. Two small ponds on the west side of the highway help identify the property.
The property, all 1,450 acres, is owned by The Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy first purchased part of the land in the 1990s to protect one of the few remaining pockets of Tallgrass prairie. The land is home to Mead’s milkweed, a small plant listed as a threatened species in 1988. Anderson County is home to some of the only known reproducing populations of Mead’s milkweed on Earth, according to The Conservancy’s website.
The prairie preserve also is an outdoor laboratory for the Kansas Biological Survey, a research center at KU. Scientists like Michaels study things like soil management, grazing practices and fire management for better farming and ranching practices.
“We can poke and prod at the land and use that information to help producers,” Michaels said. “I hope to provide information on how we can utilize these microbial communities for the restoration of these grasslands, and also how they might be used to answer questions about grazing management and farming practices.”
Microbes — bacteria, fungi, viruses and other organisms — are essential to carbon sequestration, which is how much carbon stays in the ground rather than in the atmosphere. Much remains to be learned about the function of microbes and their effect on carbon and soil in general. Michaels believes a better understanding of microbial activity in the soil can lead to improved root systems, better nutrient acquisition, disease protection, drought tolerance and increased water infiltration.
“It’s really important for us to think about what those microbes are doing and to what degree do they matter, and to what degree our influence is impacting what they’re doing,” Michaels said.
Michaels organizes monthly work days, where volunteers help her remove invasive plants and trees from the prairie. She also hopes to organize workshops with local farmers, ranchers and others interested in learning more about the prairie and her research.
“As we’re restoring these systems, we’re also restoring our relationship with the land. I get really curious about the history of a place because it helps put in context the different changes that happen over time.
“We carry a history that influences us. The land carries a history, too, that can have repercussions. If something isn’t working, the land probably had something happen to it that sent it on a different trajectory.”
