Drought neutralises plant–soil feedback of two mesic grassland forbs

Fry, Ellen L.; Johnson, Giles N.; Hall, Amy L.; Pritchard, William J.; Bullock, James M.; Bardgett, Richard D.

doi:10.1007/s00442-018-4082-x

Cited by 70 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Recent studies on chalk species showed that positive plant–soil feedback was associated with poor resistance to drought because the exploitative strategy of these plants meant severe problems and lack of structural integrity, which became problematic when drought occurred (Fry et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is possible that the taller plants are poorly adapted to the hardships chalk imposes, particularly because they are likely to have higher requirements for nutrients and water, and that this may cause problems for acquisitive species, particularly early on in succession before plant-microbial relationships are established. Recent studies on chalk species showed that positive plant-soil feedback was associated with poor resistance to drought because the exploitative strategy of these plants meant severe problems and lack of structural integrity, which became problematic when drought occurred (Fry et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil multifunctionality and drought resistance are determined by plant structural traits in restoring grassland

Fry

Savage

Hall

et al. 2018

Ecology

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It is increasingly recognized that belowground responses to vegetation change are closely linked to plant functional traits. However, our understanding is limited concerning the relative importance of different plant traits for soil functions and of the mechanisms by which traits influence soil properties in the real world. Here we test the hypothesis that taller species, or those with complex rooting structures, are associated with high rates of nutrient and carbon (C) cycling in grassland. We further hypothesized that communities dominated by species with deeper roots may be more resilient to drought. These hypotheses were tested in a 3-yr grassland restoration experiment on degraded ex-arable land in southern England. We sowed three trait-based plant functional groups, assembled using database derived values of plant traits, and their combinations into bare soil. This formed a range of plant trait syndromes onto which we superimposed a simulated drought 2 yr after initial establishment. We found strong evidence that community weighted mean (CWM) of plant height is negatively associated with soil nitrogen cycling and availability and soil multifunctionality. We propose that this was due to an exploitative resource capture strategy that was inappropriate in shallow chalk soils. Further, complexity of root architecture was positively related to soil multifunctionality throughout the season, with fine fibrous roots being associated with greater rates of nutrient cycling. Drought resistance of soil functions including ecosystem respiration, mineralization, and nitrification were positively related to functional divergence of rooting depth, indicating that, in shallow chalk soils, a range of water capture strategies is necessary to maintain functions. Finally, after 3 yr of the experiment, we did not detect any links between the plant traits and microbial communities, supporting the finding that traits based on plant structure and resource foraging capacity are the main variables driving soil function in the early years of grassland conversion. We suggest that screening recently restored grassland communities for potential soil multifunctionality and drought resilience may be possible based on rooting architecture and plant height. These results indicate that informed assembly of plant communities based on plant traits could aid in the restoration of functioning in degraded soil.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil multifunctionality and drought resistance are determined by plant structural traits in restoring grassland

Fry

Savage

Hall

et al. 2018

Ecology

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“…PSFs detected in the glasshouse often do not manifest under natural conditions (Heinze et al, ; Kulmatiski & Kardol, ; Kulmatiski et al, ). This is because glasshouse studies typically do not account for external drivers of PSFs (but, see Kaisermann et al, ; Fry et al, ). Therefore, taking above‐ and belowground drivers that affect PSFs in the glasshouse and then setting them to interact with other drivers in the field is the only way to fully understand their importance in driving PSFs in natural ecosystems; (4) Conduct PSF experiments across large‐scale nutrient, pH, climate and disturbance gradients by setting up global networks across ecosystems that investigate how above‐ and belowground drivers affect PSFs.…”

Section: The Way Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why are plant–soil feedbacks so unpredictable, and what to do about it?

et al. 2018

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The study of feedbacks between plants and soils (plant–soil feedbacks; PSFs) is receiving increased attention. However, PSFs have been mostly studied in isolation of abiotic and biotic drivers that could affect their strength and direction. This is problematic because it has led to limited predictive power of PSFs in “the real world,” leaving large knowledge gaps in our ability to predict how PSFs contribute to ecosystem processes and functions. Here, we present a synthetic framework to elucidate how abiotic and biotic drivers affect PSFs. We focus on two key abiotic drivers (temperature and soil moisture) and two key biotic drivers (above‐ground plant consumers and below‐ground top‐down control of pathogens and mutualists). We focus on these factors because they are known drivers of plants and soil organisms and the ecosystem processes they control, and hence would be expected to strongly influence PSFs. Our framework describes the proposed mechanisms behind these drivers and explores their effects on PSFs. We demonstrate the impacts of these drivers using the fast‐ to slow‐growing plant economics spectrum. We use this well‐established paradigm because plants on opposite ends of this spectrum differ in their relationships with soil biota and have developed contrasting strategies to cope with abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. Finally, we present suggestions for improved experimental designs and scientific inference that will capture and elucidate the influence of above‐ and belowground drivers on PSFs. By establishing the role of abiotic and biotic drivers of PSFs, we will be able to make more robust predictions of how PSFs impact on ecosystem function. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.13232/suppinfo is available for this article.

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“…Given that soil microorganism could directly and indirectly affect most plant functional traits [14]. We analyzed the role of soil-plant feedback to plant shade tolerance to further clarify the different shade tolerance mechanisms of OJ and LP.…”

Section: Plant Shade Tolerance Is Mediated By Soil-plant Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The changed microclimates caused by shade stress influence soil microbial structure and diversity [12]. Numerous studies suggest that plants' responses to abiotic stresses may be mediated by soil microorganisms [13,14]. Dahl et al [15] pointed out that warming and shading changed fungal community composition in Arctic soils.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of shade stress on morphophysiology and rhizosphere soil bacterial communities of two contrasting shade-tolerant turfgrasses

Luo

Sun

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Shade presents one of the major abiotic limitations for turfgrass growth. Shade influences plant growth and alters plant metabolism, yet little is known about how shade affects the structure of rhizosphere soil microbial communities and the role of soil microorganisms in plant shade responses. In this study, a glasshouse experiment was conducted to examine the impact of shade stress on the growth and photosynthetic capacity of two contrasting shade-tolerant turfgrasses, shade-tolerant dwarf lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus, OJ) and shade-intolerant perennial turf-type ryegrass (Lolium perenne, LP). We also examined soil-plant feedback effects on shade tolerance in the two turfgrass genotypes. Bacterial community composition was assayed using high-throughput sequencing.Results: Our physiochemical data showed that under shade stress, OJ maintained higher photosynthetic capacity and root growth, thus OJ was found to be more shade-tolerant than LP. Shade-intolerant LP responded better to both shade and soil microbes than shade-tolerant OJ.Shade and live soil decreased LP growth but increased biomass allocation to shoots in the live soil.The plant shade response index of LP is higher in the live soil than sterile soil, driven by weakened soil-plant feedback under shade stress. In contrast, there was no difference in these values for OJ under similar shade and soil treatments. Illumina sequencing data revealed that shade stress had little impact on the diversity of the OJ and LP's bacterial communities, but instead impacted the composition of bacterial communities. The bacterial communities were mostly composed of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria in OJ soil. Further pairwise fitting analysis showed that a positive correlation of shade-tolerance in two turfgrasses and their bacterial community compositions. Several soil properties (NO3--N, NH4+-N, AK) showed a tight coupling with several major bacterial communities under shade stress, indicating that they are important drivers determining bacterial community structures. Moreover, OJ shared core bacterial taxa known to promote plant growth and confer tolerance to shade stress, which suggests common principles underpinning OJ-microbe interactions.Conclusion: Plant shade tolerance is mediated by soil-plant feedback and shade-induced changes in

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Drought neutralises plant–soil feedback of two mesic grassland forbs

Cited by 70 publications

References 45 publications

Soil multifunctionality and drought resistance are determined by plant structural traits in restoring grassland

Soil multifunctionality and drought resistance are determined by plant structural traits in restoring grassland

Why are plant–soil feedbacks so unpredictable, and what to do about it?

Effects of shade stress on morphophysiology and rhizosphere soil bacterial communities of two contrasting shade-tolerant turfgrasses

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