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Project Overview
This project aims to explore the diversity of soil microbial communities in mosaic agroecosystems and their roles in: (i) supporting the resilience of agrobiodiversity, (ii) enhancing functions of productivity.
The soil microbial communities will be characterised using molecular and biochemical techniques. Additionally, extracellular enzyme (EE) assays will be performed to understand in situ activity and the functional aspects of these microbes in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling.
To understand resilience across multiple landscapes, a short-term perturbation experiment based on a dry-wet cycle will be conducted to assess the stability capacity of key functional genes.
Following this and using pre-conditioned soil samples, a microbial diversity-ecosystem function experiment will be conducted to understand plant response to differences in soil microbes.
This study will be conducted in Viti-Levu, Fiji, where agrobiodiversity loss is driven by agrodeforestation and climate change – a common scenario across the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs).
Why This Matters
Agrobiodiversity is important for maintaining the structures, functions, and processes of agroecosystems. The diversity of soil microbiomes is a fundamental component of agrobiodiversity, influencing soil functional stability, and productivity.
Enhancing the resilience and conservation of agrobiodiversity is critical for supporting smallholder livelihood(s), food security, and ecosystem health such as in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs).
In the Fijian archipelago, the capacity to adapt to climate, environmental, and economic changes heavily relies on agrobiodiversity.
However, agrobiodiversity loss in this region is driven by agrodeforestation and climate change, posing a huge risk to (socio)economic livelihood and ecosystem resilience.
Furthermore, the role of soil microbial diversity and its link to ecosystem functions in this region remains inadequately studied highlighting a key research gap.
This study will provide insights of soil microbial communities in Fiji, and their roles in supporting agrobiodiversity resilience and agroecosystem productivity.
Project Objectives
- To characterise the soil microbial diversity across mosaic agroecosystems in Viti-Levu.
- To conduct extracellular enzyme assays to assess EE activities and key nutrient cycling functions.
- To assess the stability capacity of microbial compositions and key functional traits under short term perturbation (Dry-Wet cycle) across different land uses.
- To investigate plant response to soil microbial compositions under pre-conditioned soil scenarios.
Project Collaborators
| South Pacific Commission | Fiji National University |
| Ministry of Agriculture, Fiji | University of the South Pacific |
Related Information
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