Welcome to the webpage of the Jackson lab at the University of California at Davis. We study soil and root ecology in agricultural and grassland ecosystems. Our goals are to:

• Understand ecological processes that control nutrient cycling, microbial community composition, and plant growth and diversity along management and disturbance gradients.
• Develop environmentally-sound management practices for increased sustainability, soil quality, and biodiversity in agricultural and grassland ecosystems in California.

Our work examines ecological processes in:

• Ecophysiology, e.g., plant nitrogen and water uptake, and root architecture
• Community ecology, e.g., soil microbial community composition and activity, with a focus on plant, rhizosphere, and mycorrhizal effects
• Systems ecology, e.g., soil-plant nitrogen and carbon flows as mediated by microbial and plant processes
• Landscape-level ecology, e.g., comparison between soils and vegetation along land use gradients.

We focus on vegetable crop systems and on the comparison of soil processes between intensively-farmed vegetable crop systems and neighboring grassland ecosystems. Our projects span basic and applied research topics, and address issues related to water, nitrogen, and organic matter management. Currently, much of our work is on organically farmed systems, or on farms that are making the transition to organic production.

Outreach and extension of research results to farmers and landowners is an important part of our programs. We emphasize on-farm research as a valid way to study ecological processes, as well as produce relevant information for farmers to use in their decision-making. Various formats exist for our outreach activities including publications, presentations, and fact sheets.