Home3 July 2025
Agricultural land use intensification is a major driver of soil carbon loss. Understanding the impacts of agricultural land use on soil carbon cycling is essential to develop sustainable land use practices that enhance soil productivity whilst protecting long-term stores of stabilised soil carbon.
Soil microorganisms are the primary drivers of soil carbon cycling. Therefore, changes in soil microbial activity and function in response to land use change can have direct consequences on the stability of the soil carbon pool. This research studied the impacts of land use and management on the structure and functional activities of the soil microbiome across an agroecosystem in Waitaha | Canterbury, with a focus on studying patterns in microbial carbon utilisation between land uses.
About the presenter
Alexa is an early-career researcher specialising in microbial ecology, whose research aims to understand how environmental disturbances impact soil ecosystem health. After completing her PhD at Lincoln University in 2021, Alexa worked as a Soil Carbon Ecologist at Scion before joining Bioprotection Aotearoa as a Postdoctoral Researcher. Originally from Cumbria [the United Kingdom], Alexa completed her BSc in Biology and MSc in Ecological Consultancy at Newcastle University.
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Learn more about this research, follow its progress and explore related work.
- Article | Kaituna Valley’s Carbon Bank
What if the future of our climate and our farms depended on the carbon beneath our feet? Kaituna Valley offers clues to how land use can build or break soil resilience. Read about how Alexa is analysing these clues.
- Research | Enhancing resilience of soil carbon across agricultural landscapes
Explore Alexa’s postdoctoral research, which examines how land use change influences soil carbon cycling across agricultural systems.
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- Project Co-lead | Farming for Resilience
Explore the Tranche 2 project co-led by Alexa, understanding how land use and cover crops influence deep soil carbon and climate resilience.
Find out more about this project >>
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Rangahau Rising is a new webinar series showcasing emerging researchers who are asking bold questions and exploring new directions in bioprotection. Each session features an early career researcher sharing their journey, ideas, and in-progress work across a range of bioprotection topics.