Public dashboard guide

1Accessing the dashboard

The public dashboard is hosted on Superset, a data visualization platform. Access uses an account whose credentials are sent to you when you register.

1
Open the dashboard
The "Open the dashboard" button at the top of this page points straight at the "EESSAQ_Microbiome 71 Séries" dashboard. If you are not signed in yet, Superset shows the sign-in page first.
2
Sign in with the guest account
Enter the username "guest" along with the password you were given, then click SIGN IN. Superset then redirects you to the dashboard. If you don't have these credentials, get in touch and we'll send them to you.

Superset sign-in page with the username and password fields filled in for the guest account. — The Superset sign-in page.

Superset home screen showing the list of available dashboards, including EESSAQ_Microbiome 71 Séries. — The Superset home screen and the list of available dashboards.

2Navigating the interface

The dashboard is divided into three main areas, designed to make exploration straightforward.

EESSAQ_Microbiome dashboard: filter panel on the left, visualization tabs along the top, charts in the centre. — 1The filter panel, on the left
2The visualization tabs, along the top
3The interactive main area, in the centre

1. The filter panel: It lists the criteria that narrow your search: pedological region, pedological sub-region, parent material, EESSAQ group, soil series, site type, and cropping system. Select your criteria, then click APPLY FILTERS to update every chart at once.
2. The visualization tabs: Three tabs group the data by theme: Cultivé, Pédologie, and Agronomie. Each gathers a coherent set of charts, and the active filters apply across all of them.
3. The interactive main area: This is where the results of your selections appear: pie charts (breakdown by cropping system or parent material), box plots for comparing indices, and advanced charts detailing microbial taxonomy or functions.

3Interacting with and exporting your data

The portal is not a static image: every chart is interactive and exportable.

1
Isolate a series from the legend
Click an entry in a chart's legend to display only that condition. Clicking again brings it back.
2
Open the options menu
Hover over a chart, then click the three vertical dots at the top right of its card.
3
Choose an export format
In the Download submenu: "Export to .CSV" for the data as text, "Export to Excel" for a spreadsheet, and "Download as image" to drop the chart into a report.

A Superset chart's options menu open on the Download submenu, showing Export to .CSV, Export to Excel, and Download as image. — 1The three dots open the chart's options menu
2The Download submenu holds the three export formats

4Understanding the soil health indicators

To get the most out of this tool, it helps to understand what the organisms studied and the indices measured actually represent.

The biological actors

Prokaryotes: Micro-organisms without a nucleus, mainly bacteria and archaea. They are essential to fertility, playing a key role in the soil's biogeochemical cycles.
Fungi: Filamentous eukaryotic organisms with multiple roles: they break down organic matter and form symbioses with plants to help them feed, though some can also be pathogenic.
Microeukaryotes: Non-fungal eukaryotic micro-organisms such as protists. They act as regulators of microbial communities and nutrient cycles.

The diversity indices

Shannon index: It combines the number of different species present in the soil (richness) with how evenly they are distributed (evenness). The higher the value, the more diverse and balanced the community — generally a sign of a resilient soil.
Fungi-to-bacteria ratio: It compares the abundance of fungi against that of bacteria. A high ratio points to a fungi-dominated soil, often one that is less disturbed; a low ratio indicates a bacteria-dominated soil, often the result of more intensive management.

The radar charts let you assess the nitrogen metabolism modules, which are crucial to crop nutrition. Each axis corresponds to a function, and each colour to a group being compared.

Radar chart of prokaryote functions associated with nitrogen, comparing the Glaciaires, Loameux, Sableux, and Argileux parent materials across the NFIX, CNF, RAN, RDN, DNF, and NF axes. — Each radar axis corresponds to a nitrogen cycle function; each colour, to a parent material.

Functions tied to the nitrogen cycle

NFIX / NF: The capacity to fix nitrogen from the surrounding (atmospheric) air and convert it into ammonium, a form plants can use.
DNF — Denitrification: Conversion of nitrates and nitrites into gas (N₂ or N₂O) that returns to the atmosphere.
RDN — Ammonification: Reduction of nitrates and nitrites into ammonium.
RAN — Assimilation: Assimilation or reduction of ammonium by organisms.
CNF: The presence of cofactors or enzymes associated with nitrogen fixation or the nitrogen cycle.

The specific roles of fungi (fungal guilds)

SAP — Saprotrophs: The recyclers: they break down organic matter. Specialists are distinguished, such as SAP_LIT for plant litter and SAP_BOIS for wood.
SYM — Symbionts: They form mutually beneficial partnerships with plants, such as mycorrhizal fungi.
AMF — Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: A category vital to agriculture: they form a symbiosis directly inside the roots, helping the plant draw up water and phosphorus.
END — Endophytes: Fungi that live inside plant tissues without causing disease.

5Practical use cases

Two concrete walkthroughs to move from exploration to an agronomic reading.

Assessing the impact of farm management

Measure what cropping practices have changed in a soil's biological life, by comparing it against an uncultivated reference.

1In the filter panel, open "Type Site" and select both Cultivé and Témoin (natural soil or riparian strip).
2Click APPLY FILTERS.
3Open the Cultivé tab and find the Shannon index box plots.
4Then compare the fungi-to-bacteria ratio between the two site types.

How to read the result: A markedly lower Shannon index and a lower fungi-to-bacteria ratio under Cultivé than under Témoin suggest the microbial community has been simplified by management practices.

Analysing a field's nutrient potential

Check whether your soil's microbiome has retained its natural capacity to supply nitrogen to crops.

1Filter by your pedological region, then by your soil series.
2Open the Agronomie tab and find the nitrogen function radar charts.
3Look at how far the NFIX axis extends relative to the other groups displayed.

How to read the result: An NFIX axis that falls well short of your pedological region's average suggests the soil may have lost part of its capacity to fix free nitrogen — which can explain a greater reliance on synthetic fertilizers.

Box plots of the fungal Shannon index comparing Cultivé and Témoin site types. — The first use case: the fungal Shannon index, compared between cultivated and reference soils.