Project Clearinghouse

Carbon Sequestration, Dung Beetles, and Soil Microbes in Pasturelands of Central Coast California

Sustainability Problem and Proposed Solution: 

Well managed grazed pastures can help sequester carbon in our soils. Research shows that soils are the key piece of this puzzle, as this is where the process of carbon sequestration happens.Dung beetles bury in the soil, which may influence the soil microbes responsible for processing and sequestering carbon in soils. This proposal outlines a study to understand the impacts of dung beetles on the soil microbial population and carbon sequestration in Central CA pasturelands.

Jump to: Contact | Project Description | Funding Sources | How to Join | Metrics for Success | Results
Project Categories: 
Land, Habitat, Watershed
Energy & Climate
Food
Project Status: 
In Progress
Project End Date: 
02/18/2021
(estimated)
Campus Organization: 
Sustainability Office
Affiliated Department, Unit or College: 
Environmental Studies
Project Location: 
Both on and off campus

Paicines, CA
Pescadero, CA
Watsonville, CA


Stakeholder Contacts: 
Contact NameEmail AddressDepartment
Suzanne
suzannelipton@ucsc.edu
ENVS
How to Join: 
If you are an undergraduate in the UC system interested in volunteering to complete field work in the summer of 2021, please email: suzannelipton@ucsc.edu.
Funding Sources: 
UCSC Carbon Fund, Heller Agroecology Grant

Project Description: 

This project will determine how different abundances of the dung beetle (Onthophagus taurus) and diversity of dung beetles (e.g. tunneling and dwelling) impacts the soil microbial community in ranch soils, with a particular focus on carbon sequestration.
In order to test this hypothesis, we will set up microcosms on three different ranches in the Central Coast region of California in the summer of 2021. These microcosms will include no, low, and high abundances of dung beetle populations. The soil in the microcosms will be sampled for testing 4 times over the course of two months. Microbial content of soil and cow dung will be assessed using multilocus barcoding hat involves Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) of universal DNA barcode loci and next generation sequencing (PCR), sequencing, followed by computational analysis using Anacapa (Curd et al. 2019). Field work for both projects (abundance and diversity) is complete, but lab work is ongoing.

Metrics for Success: 

This project is exploratory, so the measure of success will be based on the data in the project.

Next Steps: 
June 20, 2021: Establish dung beetle enclosures September 1, 2021: Finish eDNA extractions December 15, 2020: Finish eDNA analysis
Result Categories: 
Data Collection & Analysis
Results: 

The end result of this project will be a finalized report shared with the Carbon Fund, UCSC land managers, and the involved local ranchers.