SOIL MICROBIOME MANAGEMENT

Why learning about soil microbiomes is essential:

• For achieving high productivity in all farming 
• For production of healthy plant stock 
• For sustainable production 
• For enhanced pasture management 

Lesson Structure

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and Nature of the Soil Microbiome
   • Nature of soil
   • Soil Structure & Texture
   • Soil Structure and Porosity
   • Soil Structure Research
   • Topsoil Thickness
   • Nutrient Components
   • Carbon and Nutrient Content
   • Carbon Retention
   • Nitrogen
   • Phosphorus
   • Sulphur
   • Other Important Indicators of Soil Health
   • Acidity (pH)
   • Salinity
   • Environmental Factors Affecting Soil Health
   • Drought
   • Frost
   • Erosion
   • Water Retention
   • Nature of soil Microbes
   • Bacteria
   • Archaea
   • Viruses
   • Fungi
   • Protozoa
   • Scope of the Soil Microbiome
   • Plant-Microbe Relationships
   • Microbe Interrelationships
   • Changes to the Soil Microbiome
   • Key Definitions and Concepts for Understanding Soil
2. Evaluating the Soil Microbiome Status
   • Measurement vs. Monitoring in Soil Biology
   • Things the Soil Microbiome can Help Measure or Monitor
   • Types of Soil Biological Testing and Analysis
   • Deciding on the Right Type of Test
   • Overview of Different Testing Types
   • Cotton Strip Assay
   • Microbial Activity Using Basal Carbon Dioxide Respiration
   • Microbial Biomass
   • Identification Through Culturing
   • Potentially Mineralisable Nitrogen
   • Biolog Plates
   • Microarrays
   • Community Profiling
   • More Advanced Approaches to the Microbiome: Omics
   • Transcriptomics
   • 16S rRNA
   • PCR
   • PCR-ELISA
   • Bioinformatics
3. Man’s impact on Microbiome
   • Human Impact on Microbiomes
   • Land Development and Urbanisation
   • Changes in Land Use and Microbial Communities
   • Problems with land development on soils
   • Climate Change
   • Pollution
   • Air Pollution
   • Deposition
   • Precipitation
   • Erosion
   • Microplastics
   • Anti-microbials
   • Antibiotic Resistance
   • Monocultures
4. Soil Substrates and Additives
   • Soil Substrates
   • Inorganic Substrate Materials
   • Perlite
   • Vermiculite
   • Sand
   • Rockwool
   • Organic Substrate Materials
   • Peat
   • Coir
   • Bark
   • Soilless Substrates and Microbes
   • Substrate Technology
   • Substrate Engineering
   • Substrate Evaluation
   • Novel Technologies used in Substrate Management
   • Tomography
   • Rhizometrics
   • Mini-Horhizotron
   • Rheometer
   • Inorganic Additives
   • Organic Additives
   • Manures
   • Compost
   • Fungal Additives
5. Conventional vs Organic soil management
   • Conventional vs Organic Soil Management practices
   • Conventional Practices
   • Soil Carbon Modelling
   • Organic Practices
   • Composting
   • Crop Rotations
   • Cover Crops
   • No Tillage Farming
   • Organic Pest & Disease Control
   • Weed Control
   • Rotational Grazing
   • Livestock Management
   • Biodynamics
   • Biodynamic preparations/sprays
6. Soil Fertility Management
   • Soil Management Strategies
   • Soil Organic Matter
   • Cover Crops
   • Cocktail Cover Crop
   • Legume Crops
   • Longer Crop Rotations
   • Reduced Tillage
   • Planting Trees
   • Organic Additives
   • Soil Humus
   • Building Soil Humus
   • Humates
   • Composting
   • Animal Manures
   • Microbial Inoculants & Microorganisms
   • Use of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) Inoculants
   • Specific Inoculums
   • Protozoa Tea
   • Earthworms
   • Inorganic Additives
   • Gypsum
   • Lime
7. Plant Interactions with the Soil Microbiome
   • Soil Organisms
   • Function of Plant Microbiome
   • Effect of Non-native Species
   • Soil Microbiome and Plants
   • Plant-Soil Feedback
   • Plant-Microbe Associations
   • Examples of Plant-Microbe Associations with Plant Families & Species
   • Effects of Different Microbes
   • Cover Crops & Grapevines
   • Crop Rotations & Microbiomes
   • Types of Cover Crops & Microbiomes
8. Pest & Disease Interaction with Soil Microbiome
   • Biopesticides
   • Advantages of Biopesticides
   • Biological Control Agents
   • Microbial Pesticides
   • Advantages of Microbial Insecticides
   • Entomopathogenic Fungi
   • Protozoa
   • Bacteria
   • Engineering Microbial Inoculants to Suppress Disease
9. Soil Regeneration Practices
   • Restoring the soil microbiome
   • Practical Methods Which Benefit the Soil Microbiome
   • Reducing soil disturbance
   • No tillage (Zero Tillage)
   • Advantages of no till farming
   • Controlled Traffic Farming
   • Advantages of Controlled Traffic Farming
   • Increasing crop diversity & ORGANIC matter
   • Alley Farming
   • Cover Crops
   • Mulching & Composting
   • Biochar
   • Increasing soil microbes
   • Microbial Inoculation
   • Plant Breeding and Microbiome Engineering

Aims

• Describe different ways of identifying and monitoring components of a soil microbiome.
• Explain a range of human impacts on soil microbiomes.
• Compare different soil substrates and additives in different soil environments.
• Compare conventional soil management with organic soil management methods.
• Describe methods of managing soil fertility with consideration to the soil microbiome.
• Describe how plants interact with their microbiome in a variety of different situations.
• Explain different ways that pathogens and pest organisms interact with the soil microbiome.
• Determine appropriate soil regeneration strategies to boost the soil microbiome.

What this course might lead to: 

• Work in plant and crop production 
• Soil science career or study pathways  
• Work in a production system or environment 
• Conservation and land management roles 
• Careers in forestry or mining
• Managing soils in landscape design or in waste management 
• Preparing papers or writing on soil management 
  
  

Examples of jobs using soil science! 

• Wetland specialist
• Watershed or drainage basin technician
• Hydrologist
• Environmental technician
• Soil and water quality specialist
• Conservationist
• Agricultural or Crop Consultant
• Landscaper
• Farmer
• On-site land evaluation
• Soil scientist
• Research technician
• Town planner
• Crop production specialist
• Research scientist
  
  

Recently in land sciences there has been a focus toward how physical and chemical characteristics are affected by a complex community of largely unseen organisms that live within the soil. This has meant people need to develop holistic approach to the health of a soil, and therefore the health of the plants which grow in it. 

Click below to enrol now, or contact us for more information!