Pasture soil microbiome after monospecies and multispecies livestock grazing

Soil health has been highlighted as a key dimension of regenerative agriculture, given its critical importance for food production, carbon sequestration, water filtration, and nutrient cycling. Microorganisms are critical components of soil health, as they are responsible for mediating 90% of soil functions. Multi-species rotational grazing is a promising strategy for maintaining and improving soil health, yet the potential effects of this grazing management on soil microbiomes are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we collected soil microbial samples at three timepoints during the 2020 grazing season for 12 total paddocks, which were equally split into four different grazing treatments---cattle only, sheep only, swine only, or multi-species. Shallow shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to identify taxonomic and functional characteristics of the soil microbial communities.