Manipulating the species composition of permanent grasslands—A new approach to biodiversity experiments

Petersen, Ute; Wrage, N.; Köhler, Lars; Leuschner, Christoph; Isselstein, J.

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2011.10.003

Cited by 36 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…To clarify this hypothesis, functional profiles were predicted from 16S rRNA gene data using the novel bioinformatic tool Taxa4Fun17 (Supplementary Material Table S6). Predicted functional profiles differed between the host plant species in 2011 but not in 2010 (Table 3).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both D. glomerata and L. perenne have a higher tolerance against mowing compared to F. rubra while L. perenne shows a higher indicator value for nitrogen than the other two grass species15. Plant samples were taken from the GrassMan experimental field17. This unique experimental site was established to study biodiversity along an agricultural management intensity gradient.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Bacterial endophyte communities of three agricultural important grass species differ in their response towards management regimes

Wemheuer

Kaiser

Karlovský

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Endophytic bacteria are critical for plant growth and health. However, compositional and functional responses of bacterial endophyte communities towards agricultural practices are still poorly understood. Hence, we analyzed the influence of fertilizer application and mowing frequency on bacterial endophytes in three agriculturally important grass species. For this purpose, we examined bacterial endophytic communities in aerial plant parts of Dactylis glomerata L., Festuca rubra L., and Lolium perenne L. by pyrotag sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes over two consecutive years. Although management regimes influenced endophyte communities, observed responses were grass species-specific. This might be attributed to several bacteria specifically associated with a single grass species. We further predicted functional profiles from obtained 16S rRNA data. These profiles revealed that predicted abundances of genes involved in plant growth promotion or nitrogen metabolism differed between grass species and between management regimes. Moreover, structural and functional community patterns showed no correlation to each other indicating that plant species-specific selection of endophytes is driven by functional rather than phylogenetic traits. The unique combination of 16S rRNA data and functional profiles provided a holistic picture of compositional and functional responses of bacterial endophytes in agricultural relevant grass species towards management practices.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial endophyte communities of three agricultural important grass species differ in their response towards management regimes

Wemheuer

Kaiser

Karlovský

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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“…Most of the research on the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning conducted to date has focused on only one community attribute at a time, such as species richness (Hooper et al 2005;Cardinale et al 2011), species composition (Petersen et al, 2012), evenness (Wilsey and Polley 2004;Downing 2005) or spatial pattern (Maestre et al 2005). While the need of understanding the relationships among different biodiversity attributes as determinants of ecosystem functioning has been already highlighted (Loreau et al 2001;Maestre et al, 2012a), few studies so far have focused on studying how these factors determine associated soil microorganisms (but see, Johnson et al 2005;Antoninka et al 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Aspects of soil lichen biodiversity and aggregation interact to influence subsurface microbial function

et al. 2014

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Background and aims Many previous studies have evaluated aboveground-heterotrophic belowground interactions such as plant-soil feedbacks, plantmycorrhizal fungi associations or plant-actinorhizal symbioses. However, few studies have used biocrusts, which are specialized soil communities of autotrophic cyanobacteria, mosses, lichens and non-photosynthetic fungi and bacteria that are prevalent in drylands worldwide. These communities largely influence ecosystem functioning, and can be used as a model system for studying above-belowground interactions. In this study, we evaluated how biocrusts affect the functional diversity and biomass of microbial diversities beneath biocrusts. Methods We performed two microcosm experiments using biocrust-forming lichens where we manipulated their biotic attributes to test independently the effects of species richness (from two to eight species), composition, evenness (maximal and low evenness) and spatial pattern (clumped and random distribution) on the microbial catabolic profile and microbial functional diversity. Results Microcosms with a random pattern had a higher microbial catabolic profile than those with a clumped pattern. Significant richness × evenness × pattern and richness × evenness interactions were found when analyzing microbial catabolic profile and biomass, respectively. Microcosms with a random pattern, intermediate number of species, and maximal evenness level had higher microbial catabolic profile. At the maximal evenness level, assemblages had higher microbial catabolic profile and microbial biomass when they contained four species. The richness × evenness × pattern interaction was the most informative predictor of variations in microbial catabolic profile. Conclusions Our results indicate that soil microorganisms are influenced by biocrusts, just as they are influenced by plants, and highlight the importance of higher order interactions among species richness, evenness, and spatial pattern as drivers of microbial communities. The Plant Soil

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“…Harvest was performed on all plots once a year in the end of June and additionally in mid-May and mid-September for the 3-cut treatment [13]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling direct and indirect effects of experimental grassland management and plant functional-group manipulation on plant and leafhopper diversity

et al. 2014

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BackgroundPlant biodiversity can affect trophic interactions in many ways, including direct bottom-up effects on insects, but is negatively affected by agricultural intensification. Grassland intensification promotes plant productivity, resulting in changes in plant community composition, and impacts on higher trophic levels. Here, we use a novel grassland management experiment combining manipulations of cutting and fertilization with experimental changes in plant functional group composition (independent of management effects) to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of agricultural management on insect herbivore diversity and abundance. We used leafhoppers as model organisms as they are a key insect taxon in grasslands and react rapidly to management changes. Leafhoppers were sampled between May and September 2010 using standardized sweep netting and pan traps.ResultsPlant diversity, functional group composition and management regime in grasslands affected leafhopper species richness and abundance. Higher cutting frequencies directly led to decreasing leafhopper species richness, presumably due to the higher disturbance frequency and the reduction in food-resource heterogeneity. In contrast, fertilizer application had only a small indirect negative effect via enhanced aboveground plant biomass, reduced plant diversity and changes in functional group composition. The manipulated increase in grass cover had contrasting direct and indirect effects on leafhopper species richness: grass cover directly increased leafhopper species richness, but negatively affected plant diversity, which in turn was positively related to leafhopper species richness. In conclusion, insect diversity is driven in complex direct and indirect ways by grassland management, including changes in functional group composition.ConclusionsThe availability of preferred food sources and the frequency of disturbance are important direct and indirect drivers of leafhopper species richness, interacting in complex ways with plant diversity and food resource heterogeneity.

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Manipulating the species composition of permanent grasslands—A new approach to biodiversity experiments

Cited by 36 publications

References 31 publications

Bacterial endophyte communities of three agricultural important grass species differ in their response towards management regimes

Bacterial endophyte communities of three agricultural important grass species differ in their response towards management regimes

Aspects of soil lichen biodiversity and aggregation interact to influence subsurface microbial function

Disentangling direct and indirect effects of experimental grassland management and plant functional-group manipulation on plant and leafhopper diversity

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