Understanding What’s Underground: A Rooted in Research Webinar Series

Soils are vital to the productivity and health of our nation’s forests, peatlands, and grasslands. From carbon storage to nutrient cycling, to biodiversity and more, many ecosystem services depend on the physical and chemical properties of soils and the billions of organisms that inhabit them. Sustainable stewardship benefits from considering soils, managing land from the ground up.

Scientists from the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station are actively uncovering more about soil and life belowground, particularly in the context of land management. In October and November 2023, Rooted in Research dug deep into the study of what lies beneath. We learned about the latest research related to soil, fungi, earthworms, and more, exploring how best to manage forests, grasslands, and peatlands in light of this critical resource and the organisms that inhabit it.

The first four webinars in this series highlight the latest science on belowground ecology and several important monitoring efforts of the forest floor and peatlands, particularly in light of carbon storage. The last four webinars all focus on the effects of land management on soil and belowground organisms and offer innovative insights and solutions.