ABSTRACT
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) National Soil Survey Center (NSSC) has initiated a Soil Biology and Soil Carbon research area within the NRCS Global Climate Change Initiative. The purpose is to examine the role microorganisms play in nutrient and energy cycling and carbon pools in soil systems. Microbes drive nutrient cycling. Thus, it is important for soil scientists to measure microbial activity, and pools of carbon (C), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), nitrogen (N), and trace elements.
