Navigation auf zora.uzh.ch

Search ZORA

ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive)

Maintenance: On Wednesday, February 12th 2025, maintenance work will take place on the MariaDB servers from 9:45pm to approx. 10:45pm. During this period, ZORA and JDB will be unavailable. Thank you for your understanding.

Effects of plant community history, soil legacy and plant diversity on soil microbial communities

Schmid, Marc W; van Moorsel, Sofia J; Hahl, Terhi; De Luca, Enrica; De Deyn, Gerlinde B; Wagg, Cameron; Niklaus, Pascal A; Schmid, Bernhard (2021). Effects of plant community history, soil legacy and plant diversity on soil microbial communities. Journal of Ecology, 109(8):3007-3023.

Abstract

Plant and soil microbial diversities are linked through a range of interactions, including the exchange of carbon and nutrients but also herbivory and pathogenic effects. Over time, associations between plant communities and their soil microbiota may strengthen and become more specific, resulting in stronger associations between plant and soil microbial diversity.
We tested this hypothesis at the end of a 4-year field experiment in 48 plots with different plant species compositions established 13 years earlier in a biodiversity experiment in Jena, Germany. We factorially crossed plant community history (old vs. new plant communities) and soil legacy (old vs. new soil) with plant diversity (species richness levels 1, 2, 4 and 8, each with 12 different species compositions). We use the term ‘plant community history’ to refer to the co-occurrence history of plants in different species compositions in the Jena Experiment. We determined soil bacterial and fungal community composition in terms of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) using 16S rRNA gene and ITS DNA sequencing.
Plant community history (old plants) did not affect overall soil community composition but differentially affected bacterial richness and abundances of specific bacterial taxa in association with specific plant species compositions. Soil legacy (old soil) markedly increased soil bacterial richness and evenness and decreased fungal evenness. Soil fungal richness increased with plant species richness, regardless of plant community history or soil legacy, with the strongest difference between plant monocultures and mixtures. Specific plant species compositions and functional groups were associated with specific bacterial and fungal community compositions. Grasses increased fungal richness and evenness and legumes decreased fungal evenness, but bacterial diversity was not affected.
Synthesis. Our findings indicate that as experimental ecosystems varying in plant diversity develop over time (2002–2010), plant species associate with specific soil microbial taxa. This can have long-lasting effects on below-ground community composition in re-assembled plant communities, as reflected in strong soil legacy signals still visible after 4 years (2011–2015). Effects of plant community history on soil communities are subtle and may take longer to fully develop.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:07 Faculty of Science > Institute of Geography
08 Research Priority Programs > Global Change and Biodiversity
Dewey Decimal Classification:910 Geography & travel
Scopus Subject Areas:Life Sciences > Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Physical Sciences > Ecology
Life Sciences > Plant Science
Uncontrolled Keywords:Plant Science, Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Language:English
Date:1 August 2021
Deposited On:07 Jan 2022 12:54
Last Modified:26 Jan 2025 02:40
Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc.
ISSN:0022-0477
OA Status:Hybrid
Free access at:Publisher DOI. An embargo period may apply.
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13714
Project Information:
  • Funder: SNSF
  • Grant ID: 310030B_147092
  • Project Title: Community history, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
  • Funder: SNSF
  • Grant ID: 31003A_166457
  • Project Title: Fundamental biological causes of changing plant diversity-productivity relationships
Download PDF  'Effects of plant community history, soil legacy and plant diversity on soil microbial communities'.
Preview
  • Content: Published Version
  • Language: English
  • Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Metadata Export

Statistics

Citations

Dimensions.ai Metrics
55 citations in Web of Science®
56 citations in Scopus®
Google Scholar™

Altmetrics

Downloads

46 downloads since deposited on 07 Jan 2022
17 downloads since 12 months
Detailed statistics

Authors, Affiliations, Collaborations

Similar Publications