Invited Speaker Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2023

Belowground Strategies for Sustainable Agricultural Systems: A Plant-Soil-Microbial Perspective. (94434)

Barbara Drigo 1 , Alberto Canarini 2 , Pierre Mariotte 3 , Zia Mehrabi 4 , T. Martijn Bezemer 5 , Gerlinde B De Deyn6 6 , G.F. (Ciska) Veen 5 , Marcel G.A. van der Heijden 7 , Paul Kardol 8 , Yolima Carrillo 9 , Jeremy Bougoure 2 , Sotirios Vasileiadis 10 , Jowenna Sim 11 , Casey Doolette 1 , Erica Donner 11 12 , Enzo Lombi 11
  1. UniSA STEM, University of South Australia, New Port, SA, Australia
  2. Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, , University of Vienna, Vienna
  3. Agroscope, Grazing systems, , Nyon
  4. University of British Columbia, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, Vancouver
  5. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, , Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen
  6. Soil Biology and Biological Soil Quality, , Wageningen University and Research,, Wageningen
  7. Plant-Soil Interactions, Agroscope, Zurich
  8. Department of Forest Ecology and Management , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå,
  9. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment , Western Sydney University, Sydney
  10. Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
  11. Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  12. The Cooperative Research Centre for Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food, and Environments , University of South Australia , Mawson Lakes

To address population demands for food production, ecosystem services, and declining ecosystem health, there is a need for a new vision in the sustainable management of agricultural and natural systems. By combining insights from research in both agricultural and natural systems, we have the potential to significantly enhance our understanding of these systems. In the past 15 years, research on plant-soil-microbial feedbacks has garnered attention in both agriculture and natural systems, creating an opportune moment to integrate knowledge from these domains for improved food provision and ecosystem outcomes. A key aspect of this integration is the focus on targeting positive plant-soil-microbial feedbacks, which plays a vital role in enhancing the sustainability of food production while maintaining productivity.
Our proposed conceptual framework aims to integrate knowledge and approaches regarding plant-soil-microbial feedbacks from agricultural and natural systems. By doing so, we can highlight the potential benefits of utilizing insights from plant-soil-microbial feedbacks in complex natural systems to intensify agricultural systems while concurrently reducing reliance on pesticides, increasing resource utilization efficiency, and improving overall productivity. This integration can be achieved through the addition of organic inputs to close the nutrient cycle and steering the decomposer community to augment soil nutrient availability. Furthermore, we see great promise in engineering plant-soil-microbial feedbacks through techniques such as soil inoculation, genome editing, and plant trait selection. These approaches offer a valuable pathway to swiftly manipulate the direction and strength of plant-soil-microbial feedbacks, thereby effectively addressing the significant challenges faced by both natural and agricultural systems.
The proposed framework serves as a demonstration of how recent advancements in research on plant-soil-microbial feedbacks across agricultural and natural systems can contribute to the development of more focused strategies in managing plant-soil-microbial feedbacks. By adopting this integrated framework, we can make valuable strides towards achieving sustainable agricultural systems and implementing climate-smart strategies.