“It is essential to understand the soil as an ecosystem and not as a mere support for our production, which is to say, to understand soils for what they really are: complex (eco)systems. This implies considering agricultural activity as a whole, with the fragile and numerous interactions of all the living beings involved,” adds Laura García, coordinator of the livestock farming area of the Fundación Global Nature.
Specifically, in projects such as Interreg SUDOE Fleurs Locales, results are expected after working with soil samples from areas with native flora and different management practices. “As we measure microbial diversity and activity, we want to check whether the native flora increases this activity and richness, which indicates a higher soil quality, compared to the previous situation,” adds García, who explains that it is “in the rhizosphere, the environment next to the plant roots, where most interactions between plants and microorganisms take place. The plants themselves stimulate the growth of beneficial microbiota through their root exudates to attract allies.”
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