Study predicts soil recovery following wildfires

Jul 26, 2022

New Delhi, July 26 (ANI): In addition to affecting water quality, soils are essential for plant development. However, it has been challenging to foresee how wildfires might affect water quality and plant development, according to a recent study led by a group of Colorado investigators. The findings of the research were published in the journal 'Applied and Environmental Microbiology. "To make practical predictions about recovery, we had to use a modern artificial intelligence tool called statistical learning," said John Spear, PhD, professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo. Spear emphasized that combining information on the types and quantities of both microbes and nutrients increased accuracy. Another intriguing discovery was that including microbiota that is uncommon in soil--those that constituted less than 1 per cent of the microbiome--was critical to the predictions' accuracy. The investigators in the lab measured soil carbon, nitrogen and other important molecules. They also took the census of the microbiome--the species present, and the quantities of each in the soils.