We investigated the direct effect of microbial community composition, activity, and diversity on the development and persistence of soil water repellency by inoculating microcosms containing model soils with 15 different microbial communities and quantified respiration and soil water repellency over time. Six communities that consistently produced either a hydrophobic (3) or hydrophilic (3) phenotype were characterized using metagenomics and metabolomics to determine the impact of microbial and metabolite composition and diversity on soil water repellency.
Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research Division (#F255LANL2018)