Changes in soil microbial substrate utilization in response to altered litter diversity and precipitation in a Mediterranean shrubland

Shihan, Ammar; Hättenschwiler, Stephan; Milcu, Alexandru; Joly, François‐Xavier; Santonja, Mathieu; Fromin, Nathalie

doi:10.1007/s00374-016-1166-9

Cited by 38 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…The mean annual precipitation is 552 mm and the mean annual temperature is 14.6 °C (mean values over the period 2002-2012 averaged across the two meteorological stations in Marignane (43°26'N, 5°12'E) and Marseille (43°15'N, 5°22'E) closest to our study site). The soil is classified as shallow rendzina developed over limestone bedrock with with 66 % of stones in the top 50 cm, a mean pH of 7.9, a mean C:N ratio of 18 and a mean CEC of 36.8 cmol.kg -1 (means from 92 different soil samples taken in the study plots; see Shihan et al (2017) for further details).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant litter diversity increases microbial abundance, fungal diversity, and carbon and nitrogen cycling in a Mediterranean shrubland

Santonja

Rancon

Fromin

et al. 2017

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Self Cite

131

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International audienceThe consequences of predicted climate change on ecosystem processes is difficult to evaluate, because biodiversity is also susceptible to change resulting in complex interactions on ecosystem functioning. With an experimental approach, we aimed to understand how plant community diversity (through different plant litter mixtures) and climate change (through decreased precipitation) may impact microbial abundance and diversity and affect C and N cycling in a Mediterranean shrubland. Along a natural plant diversity gradient, we manipulated the amount of precipitation and followed leaf litter decomposition during one year. We found that multi-species litter mixtures had higher microbial abundance, lower bacterial diversity and higher fungal diversity than predicted from single-species litter. In addition, C and N release increased with increasing litter species richness. Microbial abundance and diversity were positively, but weakly, correlated to the litter mixture effects on C and N release. Drier conditions increased microbial diversity but had no effect on microbial abundance. The net release of N from decomposing litter was lower with reduced precipitation irrespective of litter species richness and composition, while that of C was higher or lower depending on litter species composition. The relationships between microbial communities and litter mixture effects on C and N release were altered under drier conditions. Our data provide clear evidence that microbial decomposers and the processes they drive, respond to changing plant community diversity and composition in a Mediterranean shrubland. We highlighted the importance of Quercus coccifera that appears to be a key species in shaping microbial communities and driving synergistic effects on C and N release more than the three other shrub species. Our study also suggests that shifts in the plant community composition may have stronger impacts on litter decomposition and nutrient cycling than relatively subtle changes in precipitation as simulated in our study

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…soil texture, pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and the concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese and aluminum; Table S1, Fig. S3, Shihan et al 2017) that were fitted as a supplementary variable (named "Soil") in the models.…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant litter diversity increases microbial abundance, fungal diversity, and carbon and nitrogen cycling in a Mediterranean shrubland

Santonja

Rancon

Fromin

et al. 2017

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Self Cite

131

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“…The influence of tree species diversity on litter microbial communities has been studied in boreal, temperate and tropical ecosystems, while information from Mediterranean ecosystems is extremely scarce (e.g. Shihan et al, 2017;Santonja et al, 2017aSantonja et al, , 2017b.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting responses of bacterial and fungal communities to plant litter diversity in a Mediterranean oak forest

Santonja

Foucault

Rancon

et al. 2018

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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Tree species diversity of forested ecosystems control the diversity of leaf litter inputs to the soil, with cascading effects on the microbial communities colonizing decomposing litter. However, the extent to which bacterial and fungal communities inhabiting the litter layer are affected by shifts in tree species diversity is not well understood. To investigate the role of litter species diversity, litter species identity and litter functional traits on bacterial and fungal communities of a typical Mediterranean oak forest, we set up a yearly field litterbag experiment that considered leaf litter mixtures of four abundant species: Quercus pubescens, Acer monspessulanum, Cotinus coggygria and Pinus halepensis. We found that both bacterial and fungal communities varied strongly during decomposition but showed distinct succession patterns. Both communities were also strongly influenced by litter species diversity, litter identity and litter functional traits. The intensity and the direction of these effects varied during decomposition. Litter diversity effects were mediated by litter species composition rather than litter species richness, highlighting the importance of litter species identity-and associated litter traits-as drivers of microbial communities. Both the "mass-ratio hypothesis", measured through the community weighted mean (CWM) litter traits, and the "niche complementarity hypothesis", measured through the functional dissimilarity (FD) of litter traits, contributed to litter diversity effects, with a greater relative importance of FD compared to CWM, and with an overall stronger impact on fungal than on bacterial communities. Interestingly, increasing FD was related to decreasing bacterial diversity, but increasing fungal diversity. Our findings provide clear evidence that any alteration of plant species diversity produces strong cascading effects on microbial communities inhabiting the litter layer in the studied Mediterranean oak forest.

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“…The effects of drought on animal communities have been less well studied, but decreases in diversity in response to drought have also been detected [239]. Drought has also decreased the biomass and diversity of soil biota, also favored by the decrease in species diversity at the level of litter production, because the negative effects of drought on litter decomposition is mitigated more as the complexity of the litter increases at the species level [240,241]. Jucker et al [242] have observed that mixed pine-oak forests are favored under moderate drought; shade-intolerant Pinus species received more light and were able to grow 138-155% faster when mixed with oaks, and oaks were less responsive to mixing due to their tolerance to shade and water shortage.…”

Section: Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services

Peñuelas

Sardans

Filella

et al. 2017

Forests

127

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The increase in aridity, mainly by decreases in precipitation but also by higher temperatures, is likely the main threat to the diversity and survival of Mediterranean forests. Changes in land use, including the abandonment of extensive crop activities, mainly in mountains and remote areas, and the increases in human settlements and demand for more resources with the resulting fragmentation of the landscape, hinder the establishment of appropriate management tools to protect Mediterranean forests and their provision of services and biodiversity. Experiments and observations indicate that if changes in climate, land use and other components of global change, such as pollution and overexploitation of resources, continue, the resilience of many forests will likely be exceeded, altering their structure and function and changing, mostly decreasing, their capacity to continue to provide their current services. A consistent assessment of the impacts of the changes, however, remains elusive due to the difficulty of obtaining simultaneous and complete data for all scales of the impacts in the same forests, areas and regions. We review the impacts of climate change and other components of global change and their interactions on the terrestrial forests of Mediterranean regions, with special attention to their impacts on ecosystem services. Management tools for counteracting the negative effects of global change on Mediterranean ecosystem- services are finally discussed.

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Changes in soil microbial substrate utilization in response to altered litter diversity and precipitation in a Mediterranean shrubland

Cited by 38 publications

References 72 publications

Plant litter diversity increases microbial abundance, fungal diversity, and carbon and nitrogen cycling in a Mediterranean shrubland

Plant litter diversity increases microbial abundance, fungal diversity, and carbon and nitrogen cycling in a Mediterranean shrubland

Contrasting responses of bacterial and fungal communities to plant litter diversity in a Mediterranean oak forest

Impacts of Global Change on Mediterranean Forests and Their Services

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