Interconnected Properties

This project investigates the properties and interactions within ecosystems that enable them to remain healthy under pressure from pests and pathogens. It focuses on crop production systems and explores how microbial communities, soil conditions, landscape features, and broader environmental settings contribute to resilience and resistance.

By examining how plant health is shaped by both above ground and below ground biota, such as the microbes living in and on plants, the research aims to understand the roles of different organisms and evolutionary processes in supporting ecosystem function. Special attention is given to the phytobiome, the entire community of microbes associated with plants.

The project will clarify how these interactions vary by species and setting, and help identify ecological traits that can guide more effective bioprotection strategies at multiple scales.

These projects have deepened our understanding of how climate change, land use, and ecological interactions influence pest control and crop resilience. Together, they’ve provided critical insights into supporting sustainable food systems by revealing how beneficial species move, adapt and impact agricultural ecosystems under changing environmental conditions.