We need to produce food for a growing world population, with less pesticides and fertilizers on less agricultural land area.Micro-organisms that live on or in the roots of plants may help to solve these problems: they can stimulate seed germination, promote plant growth and offer protection against drought, pests and diseases. But which micro-organisms are most effective? And are microbial consortia more effective than ‘single’ microbes?Wild ancestors of crop plants and their microbial partners may hold the key to answering these questions. Compared to their cultivated crop relatives, they are thought to have a highermicrobial biodiversity and stronger microbial support functions that have co-evolved with their wild hosts.The aim of the BackToRoots research programme is to enhance plant growth and productivity by exploring, explaining and ultimately exploiting these 'ancestral' microbial communities. 

LTER-LIFE is a scientific infrastructure aimed at supporting shared and integrated ecological research – towards the building of digital twins of ecosystems. 

LTER-NL stands for Long-term Ecosystem Research Network in the Netherlands. It is a national network of research sites engaged in long-term, site-based ecological, environmental and socio-ecological research. Currently LTER-NL consists of two Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) Platforms: the Dutch Wadden Sea and the Veluwe. In addition there is the LTSER-platform Scheldt Estuary, that is partly situated in the Netherlands and officially part of LTER Belgium.