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  1. Synthesis Projects
    1. Understory Vegetation Responses to Rapid Canopy Loss
    2. Range-wide Analysis of Pitcher’s Thistle
    3. Integrating Trait Seedling Data Into Restoration Efforts
    4. Understanding the Relationship Between Plant Traits and Microbiomes
    5. Best-Practice Guidelines for Pollinator Gardens: Linking Ecology and Practice
    6. Broadening Restoration Through Integrating Varied Perspectives and Underused Techniques
    7. Why Are Some Plant Species Missing from Restorations?
    8. Phenological Responses to Climate Change
  2. Project Proposals
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    1. sCORE Staff
    2. Collaborators and Partners
    3. sCORE Review Process

Ongoing

Understanding the Relationship Between Plant Traits and Microbiomes

About the Project

Plants and microbes have varied and context-dependent relationships for which we still lack a clear picture. Better generalities on the conditions where plants and microbes have negative, neutral, or positive outcomes is knowledge that could be greatly beneficial to both plant restoration and agriculture to reduce issues due to poor establishment, pathogens, and overuse of fertilizers, and ultimately help plant establishment. This project aims to understand the relationship between plant traits and microbiomes through meta-analytic methods. 

Project Goal

We aim to characterize the relationship between plant root traits and their responses to the belowground microbiome to help with predictive efforts for understanding a priori plant responses to microbes for use in application.

We aim to characterize the relationship between plant root traits and their responses to the belowground microbiome to help with predictive efforts for understanding a priori plant responses to microbes for use in application.

Project Collaborators

Rory Schiafo, Ph.D. student - Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden

Millie Mancini, Undergraduate Student - Colorado College

Martel Ellis, Ph.D. Student - University of Kansas

Joel Swift, Ph.D. - Post-doctoral Researcher - University of Kansas

Karla Franco, Ph.D., Scientist - Azenta Life Sciences

Rachel Warner, Undergraduate Student - Columbia University

Suzanne Fleishman, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor - Penn State University

Alicia Foxx, Ph.D., Scientist - Chicago Botanic Garden

Elsa Godtfredsen, Ph.D. Student - Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden

Moira Newman, Undergraduate Student - Amherst College

Fernando Rocha, Ph.D. Student - Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden

Wyatt Mosiman - Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden

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