10月29日: Bringing a microbial dimension to the management of current and future forests

报告人：Simeon Smaill 研究员

主持人：周小奇 教授
时  间：2018年10月29日 上午9：00开始
地  点：闵行校区 资环楼435室

Simeon Smaill研究员简介： Dr. Simeon Smaill is as a PI in the Forest Systems group of Scion, which is the New Zealand government organisation tasked with forest research. Dr. Smaill received his Ph. D from Canterbury University. Dr. Smaill’s research mainly focuses on soil-microbial interactions in planted forests, extending to models of forest nutrient cycling, the activity of plant growth promoting microbes, and the implications of climate change on soil function. Dr Smaill is currently leading several large projects exploring the potential to enhance the productivity of forest systems by understanding and manipulating microbial interactions, and has published various papers describing the results of this work in top journals in Trends in Plant Sciences, Journal of Ecology etc.

报告内容简介：The activity of the soil microbial community is fundamental to the health and productivity of planted forests. This influence is evident in the role of soil microbes in nutrient cycles and resource uptake, and extends to stress tolerance, immune response and the hormonal regulation of growth. Despite this importance, microbial interactions are largely not considered in conventional forest management in New Zealand. To address this gap, Scion has reinvigorated research in this area through examinations of the beneficial activity of ectomycorrhizal fungi in seedling nurseries and the forest, exploration of the associations between different Pinus radaita genotypes and growth promoting bacteria, and the effect of various treatments and management practices on the activity of these important microbial communities. This research has determined that the relationship between planted trees, soil microbes and management is very dynamic, with potentially long lasting implications for the soil processes that support forest productivity. Various opportunities to improve tree performance have been identified, enabling reductions in the use of chemicals to support productivity. The application of aspects of this research into large scale operational practice is now underway.