SOIL MICROBIAL ECOLOGY GROUP

Working team - Iker Mijangos

Dr. Iker Mijangos is a researcher at the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources, NEIKER-Tecnalia and a member of its Soil Microbial Ecology Group. He has: (i) a Bachelor of Science in Biology (University of the Basque Country, 2002), (ii) a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Environmental Agrobiology (University of the Basque Country, 2006), and (iii) a PhD in Biology (University of the Basque Country, 2009).

His main research interest is: the assessment of the impact of agricultural practices on agroecosystem sustainability - especially on soil health - in order to promote those agricultural practices that optimize crop yield while preserving the health of our soils. He has experience on the utilization of physical (texture, compaction, moisture, etc.) chemical (acidity, organic matter and mineral contents, cation exchange capacity, etc.) and especially biological indicators of soil health (in situ respiration, earthworm abundance, microbial biomass, enzyme activities, potentially mineralizable N, CLPPs, PCR-DGGE, etc.) in different agroecosystems, e.g. mountain grasslands, intensive forage rotations, corn crops, etc. He also has expertise on organic farming, direct seeding, crop mixtures and reutilization of livestock residues as fertilizers.