DOI: 10.1111/rec.70475">
 

Experimental applications of soil and compost tea do not improve microbial communities or seedling establishment during prairie restoration

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Department/School

Biology

Publication Title

Restoration Ecology

Abstract

Introduction: Many prairie restorations lack the plant diversity seen in remnant prairies. Most restoration practices focus on reestablishing the plant community but overlook the soil microbial community even though microbes are critical for plant establishment and ecosystem functioning. Developing techniques that increase the similarity of soil microbial communities between restorations and remnants is critical to ensuring diverse and fully functional restored habitats. Objectives: In this study, we quantified differences in soil microbial communities between remnant and restored prairies and evaluated
whether soil or compost “tea” could speed restored microbial community reassembly. We also present detailed instructions on how to
brew and apply “tea” of prairie soil or municipal compost.
Methods: First, we compared soil microbial communities between five remnant and five restored prairies in southeast Michigan,
United States. Next, we investigated whether soil and compost teas could effectively introduce prairie soil microbes to restored prairies and whether the teas affected native plant establishment. Results: We found significant differences in bacterial community composition between remnant and restored prairies, despite at least
10 years of community development in the restorations. Although some microbial taxa appeared to proliferate in the teas, neither tea treatment effectively reintroduced microbes into the soil or increased native plant establishment. Conclusions: Our tea applications did not cause restored prairie soil microbial communities to become more similar to those in remnant prairies and did not improve native prairie plant establishment. Implications for Practice: These results provide a basis for understanding the effectiveness of soil and compost teas in amending the
soil microbial communities at restoration sites. They also highlight that everything is not everywhere when it comes to soil microbes in restoration and that microbial reintroduction is a technically challenging process. Different methods of tea preparation could potentially improve the efficacy of this potential restoration treatment, such as applying greater volumes of tea over greater timespans or in different seasons or weather conditions. Tea applications could also potentially be more effective in combination with other inoculation techniques or soil amendments, or with the simultaneous addition of healthy host plants. However, these methods would require further
field and lab testing.

Comments

D. Clemans and E. Grman are faculty members in EMU's Department of Biology.

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DOI: 10.1111/rec.70475

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