This workshop explores arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which help plants absorb nutrients and improve soil health. It covers their biology, benefits, and the challenges of managing them effectively in farming. The session offers practical tips on promoting AM fungi in your soils.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form symbiotic relationships with most terrestrial plants, influencing nutrient cycling, plant health, and soil function. This workshop begins with an accessible overview of AM fungal biology and ecology, highlighting how these subterranean networks facilitate nutrient uptake, improve soil structure, and even contribute to plant defence. Yet despite their importance, the ways in which we assess and manage AM fungi in production systems remain blunt and often poorly aligned with ecological reality.
We will examine practical strategies for promoting AM fungi, through rotation choices, fertiliser regimes, and tillage practices, while also confronting important questions about when and where management interventions are unlikely to yield meaningful benefit. We will look at current and emerging approaches for evaluating AM fungi in the field. From traditional colonisation metrics to molecular tools for assessing fungal diversity, we will consider what these indicators can and cannot tell us, and how they might shape smarter, evidence-based applications in sustainable agriculture.
This will be presented by Professor Jeff Powell. Professor Jeff Powell is a microbial ecologist at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. His research investigates how microbial communities assemble and how these processes can be managed to support productivity and resilience in both natural and managed ecosystems. Jeff completed his PhD at the University of Guelph, Canada, in 2008, examining the soil impacts of genetically modified crops, and conducted postdoctoral work in Berlin on fungal traits and microbial predictability. His work spans mycorrhizal fungi, rhizobia, and soil microbial diversity, with a focus on their roles in carbon and nutrient cycling and their contributions to plant health under environmental change.
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