NCERA_temp59: Soil Organic Matter: Formation, Function and Management
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Draft Project
NCERA_temp59: Soil Organic Matter: Formation, Function and Management
Duration: 10/01/2026 to 09/30/2031
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
Soil organic matter (SOM) is the foundation of soil quality and soil health. New knowledge and practices that improve the management and maintenance of SOM and SOM-dependent processes also provide the foundation of healthy farms, communities, and environments. The complex biological, geophysical, and chemical processes involved in SOM formation and function require exploration by interdisciplinary and collaborative teams. Founded in 1952, NCERA-59 remains the only multi-state committee in the U.S. investigating how management practices affect the nature and genesis of SOM and how this alters soils’ biological, physical, and chemical function. Research and extension activities require full integration to promote knowledge use to increase soil’s capacity to resist and recover from stress; capture and retain biological life-supporting matter including carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and essential nutrients; filter, retain and transport water; and support healthy plant and animal life. Activities conducted by this committee advance our ability to promote and conserve soil’s regulating and provisioning ecosystem services including C sequestration, soil nutrient cycling, N use efficiency, and water retention. NCERA-59’s research and outreach efforts are important to raise awareness and protect soil resources, reduce environmental impacts from agricultural activity, promote soil quality and soil health. To work to these goals, the committee will continue to explore how amendments, crop rotation and diversification of the cropping sequence, tillage, and drainage affect the genesis, composition, reactivity, function and stability of different components of SOM.
Scientists from outside the North Central Region regularly participate in the annual meeting of this committee, which broadens the scope and relevance of our work due to the diversity of their knowledge and scientific skills. This allows us to consider site and system-specific aspects of organic matter management. Research activities continue to explore organic matter composition (Zhou et al., 2015) and stabilization (Throckmorton et al., 2015; Silva et al., 2015); and are actively investigating C and N cycling and their influence on priming (Castellano et al., 2015; Schmidt et al., 2016), aggregation (Blanco-Canqui et al., 2015), microbial communities (Rudisill et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2016; Wooliver et al., 2022, 2025b), and free living organism N fixation (Smercina et al., 2019a, b). Linkages to plant-soil interactions are being made through exploration of N release from cover crops and crop residues (Jani et al., 2015; Alghamdi and Cihacek, 2021; Alghamdi et al., 2021; 2022), disease suppression (Marzano et al., 2015), the effects of mycorrhizal associations on P and N nutrition (Duan et al., 2015), the ability to resist and recover from stress (Lazicki, et al., 2023, 2025; Wooliver et al., 2025a) and of plant growth promoting bacterial and humic acid on root growth and crop yield (Canellas et al., 2015; Santos et al. 2024). In addition to this, group members remain committed to information application by improving and applying process models (Necpalova et al., 2015; Qin et al., 2016) and soil health indicators and their quantitative integration (Veum et al., 2012; Dose et al., 2015; Ugarte and Wander, 2015; Cates et al., 2106; Singh et al., 2023; Santos et al. 2025). A collaborative paper by group members highlights the concerns and needs for collaborative efforts in evaluating soil quality/soil health indicators and to direct focus on those indicators that need refinement and standardization (Wander, et al., 2019).
One of the most important functions of NCERA-59 is to provide an informal setting to exchange ideas among scientists with diverse scientific skills interested in the various roles of SOM in the functioning of ecosystems. The technical outreach component of this committee has been especially important in transferring information to its members and to the general research community, and stakeholders. In addition, many of the efforts of committee members have influenced policy at the state and local level. The committee allows early-career scientists the opportunity to interact with established scientists working across the country. Diversity of member research interests (fundamental–molecular, biochemical, chemical, microbial, physical and applied aspects of SOM dynamics) remains a strength of this group. During the current term of this project, NCERA-59 members have published over 140 refereed journal articles, 14 technical reports and participated in over 155 outreach activities and presentations related to this committee’s work.
The NCERA-59 committee will continue to promote research cooperation among its members and build on its historical mission to foster interest in and, mechanistic understanding of, how crop and soil management practices alter organic matter formation, SOM chemistry, the biological and physical reactivity of humic and non-humic substances and work to develop models and information tools that help solve problems of regional and national scope. The committee will follow up on previous high-impact activities including the production of edited books and symposia on topics of shared interest. Current plans include continuing efforts focused on cropping systems and feedbacks influencing ecological stoichiometry and associated SOM dynamics, the development of interpretive frameworks using SOM fractions as indicators of soil health and soil N supply potential, and understanding relationships between SOM and soil biology.
The NCERA-59 committee will continue to promote research cooperation among its members and build on its historical mission to foster interest in and, mechanistic understanding of, how crop and soil management practices alter organic matter formation, SOM chemistry, the biological and physical reactivity of humic and non-humic substances and work to develop models and information tools that help solve problems of regional and national scope. The committee will follow up on previous high-impact activities including the production of edited books and symposia on topics of shared interest. Current plans include continuing efforts focused on cropping systems and feedbacks influencing ecological stoichiometry and associated SOM dynamics, the development of interpretive frameworks using SOM fractions as indicators of soil health and soil N supply potential, and understanding relationships between SOM and soil biology.
Objectives
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Coordinate research collaborations and information exchange on the biochemistry, biological transformations, and physical/chemical fractions of soil organic matter (SOM). Applications of this work can: (a) improve nutrient cycling and use efficiency and soil health in cropping systems; (b) determine soil C storage potential and thresholds; (c) assess the stress and resilience of soils and soil C affected by agricultural and other anthropogenic activities; (d) Improve definition of organic matter fractions (i.e., particulate organic matter, mineral associated organic matter and/or (e) remediate degraded or contaminated soils.
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Identify and evaluate indicators that can be used to assess soils as a resource for ecosystem services including but not limited to detailed chemical characterizations of physically extracted fractions and interactions among soil microorganisms, plants and SOM
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Conduct outreach activities for stakeholders including producers, scientists, regulators, and industry personnel as well as training the next generation of scientists to promote the ecological management of soils, including practices that regenerate or sustain functionally of SOM fractions in managed and undisturbed systems.