BioDivRice: characterisation of protist and fauna biodiversity in soils from differently managed rice agroecosystems

The research aims to characterise the taxonomical and functional biodiversity within rice field ecosystems. By comparing the effects of various farming practices on local soil biotic communities, the study seeks to identify how different management strategies influence the diversity of various organisms and the overall ecosystem health. To achieve this, the project involves the development of protocols based on eDNA, specifically tailored for monitoring these environments, providing a cutting-edge and non-invasive tool to study community compositions across diverse rice-growing agroecosystems.