The 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that sustainable agricultural practices can aid in reversing the impacts of climate change on land degradation, reduce food related vulnerabilities, and counteract increased carbon dioxide emissions through carbon sequestration. Two forms of sustainable agriculture are rotational diversity and no-till, which can promote soil structure through aggregation, increase fungal plant interactions, reduce erosion, increase soil moisture, decrease the need for fertilizer, and sustain higher total organic nitrogen and carbon. Although no-till and rotational diversity have benefits, there is a lack of research on the affect these agricultural management practices have on below-ground carbon dynamics and soil food web structure and function. Gaining an understanding of fine root production in annual no-till and crop rotation systems can aid in a maximization of the amount of carbon stored in the soil, and further the understanding of carbon flux within belowground agricultural systems. In addition, the research being conducted aims to understand soil food web structure and function to improve sustainable agricultural practices and investigate how soil nutrients are processed and allocated.

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