FY2014This project proposes to test the hypothesis that soil fungistasis (suppression of fungal pathogens by soil microbes in carbohydrate-limited soil) and its alleviation through natural carbohydrate augmentation (e.g., cheatgrass litter, leakage from cheatgrass roots) are the principal processes mediating patterns of cheatgrass die-off and recovery in die-off-prone areas.
The project team will use laboratory, greenhouse, and field manipulative experiments to examine the effect of soil carbohydrates on cheatgrass disease incidence.
