Dozens of scientists performing research on planet Earth's fragile 'skin'
December 05, 2016 
RICHLAND, Wash. - The Earth's soil is a very active but poorly understood ecosystem right beneath our feet. The D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab has 2 ongoing research efforts exploring the properties of this important - but oft-overlooked - system. The research, involving a range of diverse plans looking at soil's role in Earth's climate, the environment, food and fuel production, supports today's announcement by the White House of a framework for Federal soil science to maintain and create healthy soils.
The White House announcement comes on the same day that the National Academy of Sciences puts its focus on soil. The academy's workshop, "Soils: The Foundation of Life," attracted scientists from around the nation, including PNNL's Vanessa Bailey, Janet Jansson and Kathe Todd-Brown. Participants are discussing soil in relation to national security, climate, food security, biodiversity and other issues.
The 2 soil-related PNNL efforts, known as MinT and IPASS, are internally funded by the Lab through its Lab Directed Research and Development program. Through the 2 PNNL initiatives, approximately $20 million supports research related to soil - a critical ecosystem resource that makes food and bioenergy crop production possible, influences the quality of the air we breathe, and has a broad impact on climate. These plans are in addition to several other soil-related research studies at PNNL funded by the D.O.E. Office of Science.
MinT: Microbiomes in Transition
In the MinT initiative, in excess of 2 dozen PNNL researchers are focusing on the role of microbes in soil, climate, health and the environment. In soil, microorganisms living in communities known collectively as microbiomes perform most of the activity that occurs in soil, helping to determine plant health, crop productivity, how the land stores carbon, when and how carbon is released into the environment, and the fate of contaminants and other compounds in the environment.
Just a teaspoon of soil has tens of thousands of different microbial species present - an army of actors on which Earth depends for its future. The soil microbiome is crucial to understanding how plants take up nutrients and how crops sustain or develop resistance to conditions like drought.
3 years remain on this research effort, which is led by Janet Jansson.
IPASS: Integrated Plant Atmosphere Soil Systems
In this four-year initiative launched earlier this year, 20 PNNL scientists are studying fundamental processes that affect the flow and transformation of carbon, nitrogen and water through the plant ecosystem. Soil, plants and the atmosphere are all important to the health and future of the planet, but many research efforts look at the components separately. The IPASS team is looking at the interactions between plants, microbes, the soil and the atmosphere as one - very complex - system, including the effects of genetic information in the plants and the effects of environmental factors including climate.
Scientists will take an unprecedented look at the "rhizosphere," the area in soil surrounding a plant's roots. This root zone holds great sway over the climate. Plants take in carbon from the atmosphere and can send it through their roots into the soil, or they can shunt the carbon into their leaves and other structures. And once carbon is in plants and soil, its fate - mainly whether it enters the ecosystem or stays locked in the ground - depends on a number of factors. Understanding the factors that determine what happens to the load of carbon absorbed by plants and stored in the soil will help scientists project for the future.
IPASS is led by Christer Jansson, who has done extensive work deciphering the factors that underlie the growth of plants, particularly drought-resistant plants, which could be used as fuel or food.
Recent contributions
The 3 PNNL participants in today's academy workshop have all made important contributions to our knowledge of soil:
- Earlier this year, Bailey and colleague Ben Bond-Lamberty showed that microbes in soil may not be as resilient as scientists have thought when it comes to climate change. Next week, at the yearly meeting of the American Geophysical Union, Bailey will give an update on the fate of carbon in soil. Later this week she will host a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session on the topic.
- Janet Jansson is helping scientists worldwide map out ways to expand our knowledge of microbes in soil. Last year she published findings in Nature that explore how the activity of microbes in permafrost will change with warmer temperatures. She is part of another White House effort, on the microbiome, and is a leader bringing together scientists from around the world to decide on next steps in research, including the technologies necessary for further discoveries.
- Todd-Brown is part of an international team that just last week published a paper in Nature showing that carbon stored in soil is expected to be released at an accelerating rate in the next few decades.
Tags: Energy, Environment, Fundamental Science, Biofuel, Climate Science, Subsurface Science, Biology, Microbiology
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.
