Microplastics are emerging as a ubiquitous presence in terrestrial systems and could pose a serious threat to soil biota and functioning. This project assesses the impact of microplastics (conventional and biodegradable) on soil microbial community structure and belowground plant functional traits.  Using isotopic methods, I evaluate the downstream consequences of different conventional and biodegradable plastic polymers on soil C mineralization and efflux. 

This project is one of seven across Canada awarded a total of $7 million, from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Environment and Climate Change Canada under their joint Plastics Science for a Cleaner Future initiative. 

I work with the plastics in aquatic and terrestrial systems group: https://www.microplasticecotox.com/ 

Riparian agroforestry buffers offer a significant opportunity to enhance carbon (C) storage while also augmenting local biodiversity, with buffer management playing a critical role in determining the services derived from these systems.  Notably, woody and herbaceous plant communities drive C cycling via aboveground litter mineralization, belowground root respiration, and soil microbial decomposition dynamics. Yet, how plant diversity and soil microbial biota interact to regulate C cycling remains elusive, especially in riparian ecotones, which are relatively understudied, yet becoming a more prominent agricultural landscape feature. Using a functional-trait based approach, I conducted in-situ field studies paired with laboratory experiments within or using riparian landscape features to assess a series of questions related to diversity and C cycling dynamics. 

This project was funded under the Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Program (AGGP, 2016-2021), an application-based $27-million, five-year base funded program. The program was initiated to represent Canada’s contribution to the Global Research Alliance for the mitigation of agricultural GHGs. For more information, please visit: https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/department/transparency/evaluation-agricultural-greenhouse-gases-program-2016-17-2020-21-summary  

In collaboration with Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigaciony Ensenanza (CATIE) in Turrialba, Costa Rica, this study looked at how management decisions related to light (monoculture or agroforestry) and nutrients (organic - conventional) impacted the response of coffee functional traits. 

We measured seven leaf traits related to physiology, morphology and chemistry, across different levels of fertilization and light availability to assess intraspecific variation.  As climates change, plasticity in functional trait responses will be vital in ensuring a healthy and prosperous crop.