Seminar of the Department of Botany and Centre of Excellence EcolChange
Speaker: Marcel van der Heijden is a professor at the University of Zurich and at the Swiss Centre of excellence for agricultural research Agroscope. In his research Prof. van der Heijden investigates how changes in soil microbial biodiversity influence plants and ecosystem functioning.
Title of the talk: Microbiome engineering for a sustainable agriculture: drivers, functional links & the role of pesticides
Time: Thursday, 11 February 2021 at 14.15
Place: Virtual seminar in Zoom
Summary: There is much interest to enhance the sustainability of agricultural production. Here it is discussed whether microbes can help in this endeavour. I present experimental evidence from model communities which reveal that soil biodiversity and microbiome complexity promote ecosystem functioning and sustainability. Then I present our results from field experiments and discus various options to manage microbial communities and beneficial mycorrhizal fungi in the field. I also discuss the role of pesticides and other factors determining microbial composition and functioning under field conditions.
EcolChange 