About

Dr. Jessica Gutknecht is the Principal Investigator of the Gutknecht Lab, which focuses on Soil and Ecosystem Ecology for Climate Resilient Systems (SEECRS) at the University of Minnesota. Her research involves collaboration with graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and other team members working on projects related to soil health, carbon cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, hydrology, water quality, and ecosystem services in perennial and continuous cover agricultural systems. The lab's work includes a strong emphasis on Kernza, a perennial grain, and its role in improving soil health and adapting agriculture to future climates. Dr. Gutknecht's team investigates carbon stocks, nitrogen budgets, and the impacts of different fertility strategies within diversified cropping systems, contributing to climate change adaptation and sustainable land management.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Botany
• Agronomy
• Environmental chemistry
• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Biochemistry
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Development and adoption of Kernza—A perennial grain crop for sustainable agriculture

  Plants People Planet · 2026-01-27

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Societal Impact Statement Annual cereal grains account for ~50% of human food calories, but cultivation of these crops has resulted in major environmental and social issues worldwide. For nearly three decades, researchers have been breeding intermediate wheatgrass—a perennial cool‐season grass—to serve as the world's first commercial‐scale perennial grain crop to improve agricultural sustainability. Introducing a perennial grain crop onto landscapes and into markets has significant potential to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, improve farmer economics, and offer a healthy new food ingredient for consumers. However, transdisciplinary collaboration is required to upscale Kernza to maximize positive societal impacts. Summary Kernza is the tradename of grain harvested from advanced breeding lines of intermediate wheatgrass, a perennial grass being domesticated to serve as a perennial grain crop. Here, we present the need and justification for developing perennial grains as a contributing solution to agricultural challenges; we review the foundational science behind Kernza's development, outline the transdisciplinary efforts to scale and commercialize it, and address the unique challenges to its wider adoption and integration into the food system. Decades of plant breeding and development of genetic resources have resulted in the domestication of Kernza, which has since been studied for its food science, agronomic, and ecological properties at a research scale. Research and development have expanded to engage critical food system actors including farmers, processors, end‐users, and consumers, and these collaborations have resulted in coordinated networks ranging in scale from local communities to an international consortium to improve the social, environmental, and economic impacts of Kernza. Cross‐sector partnerships continue to develop and distribute knowledge and resources that support the adoption of Kernza by growers and end users. Examples of resources include grower business cooperatives, federal incentive programs, marketing toolkits, and educational materials for learners spanning generations. We outline key challenges to expedited progress, including the inherent time requirements to breed a crop for multi‐year grain production, and quantify certain environmental benefits like carbon sequestration. A coordinated, transdisciplinary, values‐based approach to overcoming these challenges is described and, if implemented, can accelerate the research and commercialization at a global scale.

  PublisherDOI

• Temporal variability of soil health indicators under annual and perennial continuous living cover: Effects of annual weather and management

  Soil Science Society of America Journal · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Soil health indicators (SHIs) are used to detect changes in soil conditions in response to management. However, management effects must be disentangled from other factors influencing SHI variability. Specifically, how annual weather affects SHI remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we analyzed soil annually for 5 years at 64 sampling points in two silt loam fields, in Minnesota. One field had annual crops (maize, Zea mays L.; winter camelina, Camelina sativa L. Crantz.; soybean, Glycine max L. Merr.; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.; and winter barley, Hordeum vulgare L.) while the other had perennial crops (alfalfa, Medicago sativa L. and Kernza, Thinopyrum intermedium (Host) Barkworth & D.R. Dewey). We measured mineralizable carbon (MinC), extracellular enzymes, microbial biomass, soil organic carbon, mineral‐associated organic matter, and particulate organic matter (POM) at 0‐ to 15‐cm and 15‐ to 30‐cm depth. We present two key findings. First, growing season weather was correlated with annual changes in several indicators. The most striking relationships were between growing season mean air temperature (MAT) and 1‐, 4‐, and 12‐day MinC ( p < 0.001). MAT was not correlated with 21‐day MinC. MAT–MinC correlations were depth‐dependent: positive at 0–15 cm ( r = 0.65–0.68) and negative at 15–30 cm ( r = −0.39 to −0.60). Second, soil health improved in the perennial field. Most illustrative of this finding were gains in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ( p = 0.013), subsurface MinC, and POM ( p < 0.001). In summary, we recommend that soil health assessment account for annual weather, and suggest that perennial crops lead to improved soil health.

  PublisherDOI

• Sulfur Redox Status in Peatland Soil and Outflow Waters Diverge with Climate Warming

  2026-03-14

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Boreal peatlands are important continental reservoirs of carbon and other elements. Changes in climate, especially increasing temperatures and more variable precipitation, alter oxidation-reduction (redox) conditions and fluxes of atmospheric and aquatic pollutants from peatlands. Here, we measure the effect of warming and elevated carbon dioxide on the speciation of sulfur in boreal peatland soil and outflow water over three years. In whole ecosystem warming experiments, with temperature levels of +0 °C (control), +2.25 °C, +4.5 °C, +6.75 °C, and +9 °C above ambient, water table height was negatively correlated with warming. Warming was correlated with changes in the size of sulfur pools, specifically, sulfur content (weight%) decreased in soils and sulfate (SO 4 2- aq) concentrations increased in outflow. Reflecting the warmer and drier conditions, the percentage of oxidized sulfur in soil, asmeasured by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, increased with warming. Sulfur speciation in soil showed increases in ester-sulfate (R-O-SO 3 - ) content at the expense of organic disulfide (R-S-S-R’) content. In contrast to the soil, the percentage of oxidized sulfur decreased in outflow with warming. The changes in sulfur speciation in outflow were characterized by increased organic monosulfide (R-S-R’, R-S-H) content at theexpense of ester-sulfate. Overall, the peatland sulfur pools are becoming more oxidized in the soil and more chemically reduced in the outflow water in response to soil and air warming. The connection between these opposite redox trends is likely due to enhanced microbial activity in porewaters and outflow with warming. Specifically, we observed that ester-sulfate partitions from soil to outflow waters during heavy rainfall periods (based on weeklyprecipitation). We surmise that increases in ester-sulfate in outflow make it available for microbial sulfur reduction processes that are also enhanced at warmer temperatures. Our study indicates that the peatland response to climate warming is complex: oxidation of sulfur in soil and the chemical reduction of sulfur in the outflow water are both correlated with warming. Notably, no significant effect of elevated carbon dioxide on sulfur pools was detected. Our findings are consistent with a net export of organic sulfur from the peatland to receiving surface waters. Furthermore, the overall loss of sulfur from this peatland is consistent with enhanced decomposition and increased plant available nutrients reported previously for this whole ecosystem warming experiment. Warming-induced changes to sulfur pools in peatlands affect the fluxes of other constituents, such as organic carbon and the pollutant methyl-mercury, that have downstream consequences for climate and water quality.

  PublisherDOI

• From concept to crop: Kernza perennial grain is a work in progress

  Advances in agronomy · 2025-01-01 · 3 citations

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Productivity of intermediate wheatgrass responds more to local soil and climate factors than fertility treatments in the first establishment year

  Frontiers in Agronomy · 2025-06-27 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  The intensive cultivation practices of annual cereal crops have been causing unprecedented degradation of natural resources. Perennial crops such as intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) could provide numerous benefits to address these issues, but there is still little comprehensive information about the establishment, fertilization needs, or range of IWG productivity on a regional basis in the first production year, which can be the highest over the lifespan of IWG’s grain production. The objective of this study was to evaluate how IWG establishment and first-year grain and forage yields varied across soil types, climate conditions, and in response ten fertilization treatments at six locations in the Midwestern USA. The 10 treatments included N fertilizer application at 5 rates; N application with or without P or K; varied timing of N application, and varied N fertilizer source. We found that fertilization influenced summer and fall forage yields but not grain yields. We also found that grain and forage yields varied greatly between locations, ranging from 556–1343 kg ha -1 for grain yields, 3732–8930 kg ha -1 for summer forage, and 927–3561 kg ha -1 for fall forage yields. Using a multiple linear regression approach, we found that a combination of local edaphic soil and climate factors explained 74%, 92%, and 69% of variance in grain, summer forage, and fall forage yields, respectively. Anomalies in expected and actual yields across locations led us to identify potential critical periods for IWG grain and forage production. We found accumulated precipitation in the 60 days before anthesis explained the most variance in grain and summer forage yields while the accumulated precipitation from May through October explained the most variance in fall forage yields. These findings are a first step toward identifying the regional expectations for IWG yields and could inform grower management and decisions regarding grain and forage harvest.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Carbon Footprint of Kernza Perennial Grain in Organic and Nonorganic Production Systems

  ACS Sustainable Resource Management · 2025-11-07 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Perennial grains can serve as substitutes for annual grains, reducing soil degradation, increasing soil organic carbon (SOC), and lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One such crop is Kernza Intermediate Wheatgrass (IWG), but its emissions impact remains understudied. This study evaluates the carbon footprint of Kernza under organic and nonorganic management, using a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Net GHG emissions were −1.54 kg CO2e kg–1 grain for organic systems and −1.80 kg CO2e kg–1 grain for nonorganic systems, suggesting nonorganic Kernza production has greater potential for reducing GHG emissions. Yield significantly influences global warming potential (GWP) and land use impacts. Higher yields in nonorganic systems offset GHG emissions per hectare, reducing emissions per kilogram of grain compared to the organic Kernza average. Diesel fuel use and soil emissions were responsible for an average of 80% of emissions, highlighting the role of operational and input-specific factors. These findings emphasize the interplay among yield, emissions intensity, and land use in achieving sustainability goals. The dual-use nature of Kernza as both a grain and forage crop could significantly impact LCA outcomes by allocating GHG emission impacts to each product. As a perennial grain, Kernza holds promise for advancing sustainable food systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Aridity modulates grassland biomass responses to combined drought and nutrient addition

  Nature Ecology & Evolution · 2025-05-19 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Soil microbial and plant biomass carbon allocation within perennial and annual grain cropping systems

  Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · 2025-02-16 · 5 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Interrelationships among methods of estimating microbial biomass across multiple soil orders and biomes

  Soil Biology and Biochemistry · 2025-05-09 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Age‐related changes in root dynamics of a novel perennial grain crop

  Grassland Research · 2024-02-08 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Background Standing root biomass stocks are larger in the perennial grain intermediate wheatgrass (IWG; Thinopyrum intermedium [Host] Barkworth and Dewey) than annual spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). However, previous studies have not separated root growth from root decomposition, which presents a significant gap in our understanding of how roots can contribute to soil organic carbon (C) accrual or other soil properties through time. Methods We used paired sequential coring and root ingrowth cores to measure standing root stock, new root production, root decomposition, and decomposed root C and N from 0 to 15 cm soil depth of 1‐year‐old IWG (IWG‐1), 2‐year‐old IWG (IWG‐2), and annual spring wheat. Results Standing root stock was 3.2–6.5 and 6.3–9.9 times higher in IWG‐1 and IWG‐2 than wheat. Total root production was 1.7 times greater in IWG‐1 than IWG‐2. Conversely, root decomposition almost doubled from 1.39 to 2.43 kg m −3 between IWG‐1 and IWG‐2. Conclusions In IWG, decreased root production and increased root decomposition with stand age suggest a change in growth strategy that could reduce the contribution of root‐derived C to stabilized soil C pools as IWG stands age.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Audrey Niboyet

  40 shared

• François Buscot

  Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

  29 shared

• Helge Bruelheide

  Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

  22 shared

• Xavier Le Roux

  18 shared

• Kathryn M. Docherty

  Western Michigan University

  16 shared

• Jacob M. Jungers

  University of Minnesota

  15 shared

• Goddert von Oheimb

  TU Dresden

  15 shared

• Jizhong Zhou

  Tsinghua University

  15 shared

Labs

• Gutknecht LabPI

  Soil and Ecosystem Ecology for Climate Resilient Systems (SEECRS)