How does above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground grassland biomass production respond to change in multiple climate drivers over a 4\uffe2\uff80\uff90yr period? Can climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced patterns of biomass response be explained by shifts in plant community structure? Does sustained climate change affect the relationships between abundance of functional groups, community\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale leaf traits and above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground production?
LocationPerennial grassland in the French Massif Central.
MethodsMonoliths extracted from the study grassland were exposed to a simulated climate change corresponding to the air temperature, atmospheric CO 2 and summer rainfall conditions projected for 2080. We examined impacts of climate treatments on above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass and community structure for 4\uffc2\uffa0yr, and investigated the relationship between biomass production, species diversity and three key functional traits: specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content and leaf N content.
ResultsBoth warming and simultaneous application of warming, summer drought and elevated CO 2 were associated with an increase in annual above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass at the start of the study, but biomass responses became progressively negative over the course of the experiment. Decreases in vegetation N exports were also observed over time, possibly due to reduced soil N availability under climate change. Taxonomic diversity showed no response to climate treatments, but the relative abundance of grasses decreased under both warming and simultaneous application of warming, summer drought and elevated CO 2 after 3\uffc2\uffa0yr. In parallel, legume relative abundance increased in all warmed treatments. Functional diversity responses varied depending on climate treatment and leaf trait. In the control treatment, patterns of variation in annual plant biomass were best explained by functional diversity during the study period. However, in warmed treatments, variation in annual plant biomass was more closely linked to the functional traits of dominant species.
ConclusionsContinuous, multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90year exposure to projected climate conditions has a negative impact on above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass in our grassland study system. Our data suggest that climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced decreases in above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass may be driven by changes in the relative abundance of plant functional groups, and could also reflect changes in soil nutrient availability. Unlike species diversity, community\uffe2\uff80\uff90level leaf traits and functional diversity appear to play an important role for above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass production, and may have indirect effects on ecosystem stability in changing climates.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Plant biomass", "Drought", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "7. Clean energy", "6. Clean water", "[SDV.EE] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", " environment", "13. Climate action", "[SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", "Air warming", "Plant functional traits", "Community composition", "Elevated CO2", "environment"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01452.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Vegetation%20Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01452.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01452.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01452.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-07-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.15161", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:20:23Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-04-19", "title": "Plant attributes explain the distribution of soil microbial communities in two contrasting regions of the globe", "description": "Summary
We lack strong empirical evidence for links between plant attributes (plant community attributes and functional traits) and the distribution of soil microbial communities at large spatial scales.
Using datasets from two contrasting regions and ecosystem types in Australia and England, we report that aboveground plant community attributes, such as diversity (species richness) and cover, and functional traits can predict a unique portion of the variation in the diversity (number of phylotypes) and community composition of soil bacteria and fungi that cannot be explained by soil abiotic properties and climate. We further identify the relative importance and evaluate the potential direct and indirect effects of climate, soil properties and plant attributes in regulating the diversity and community composition of soil microbial communities.
Finally, we deliver a list of examples of common taxa from Australia and England that are strongly related to specific plant traits, such as specific leaf area index, leaf nitrogen and nitrogen fixation.
Together, our work provides new evidence that plant attributes, especially plant functional traits, can predict the distribution of soil microbial communities at the regional scale and across two hemispheres.
Human-induced changes in land use lead to major changes in plant community composition and structure which have strong effects on eco-hydrological processes and functions. We here tested the hypothesis that changes in traits of living plants have resulted in changes in structural attributes of the community that influenced eco-hydrological functions by altering eco-hydrological processes. This was done in the context of a subtropical secondary forest suc?cession following land abandonment in Central Yunnan (Southwest China). During the succession, species with high specific leaf area (SLA), high leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC), high specific root length (SRL), and low leaf dry matter content (LDMC) were progressively replaced by species with the opposite characteristics. The obtained results of correlation analyses were as follows: (1) Correlations were significant between community-aggregated SLA, LNC, and the leaf area index (LAI). Significant correlations were detected between LAI, canopy interception and stemflow, and surface runoff and soil erosion. (2) Significant correlations were also found between community-aggregated SLA, LNC, LDMC, and accumulated litter biomass. High accumulated litter biomass strongly increases the maximum water-retaining capac?ity of litter. However, significant correlations were not found between the maximum water-retaining capacity of litter and surface runoff and soil erosion. (3) Correlations were significant between community-aggregated SLA, LNC, and fine root biomass. Fine root biomass was not significantly related to the maximum water-retaining capacity of the soil, but was significantly related to surface runoff and soil erosion. These results suggest that canopy characteristics play a more important role in control of runoff and soil erosion at the studied site. It follows that plant functional traits are closely linked with canopy characteristics, which should be used as a standard for selecting species in restoration and revegetation for water and soil conservation.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "plant functional traits", "forest ecological hydrology", "QH301-705.5", "community structure", "Biology (General)", "15. Life on land", "water and soil conservation"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.2298/abs0904741f"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Archives%20of%20Biological%20Sciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.2298/abs0904741f", "name": "item", "description": "10.2298/abs0904741f", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.2298/abs0904741f"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2009-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "86fa9373-ceb9-4be8-8bef-ba387298d562", "type": "Feature", "geometry": {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[13.47, 53.29], [13.47, 53.43], [13.86, 53.43], [13.86, 53.29], [13.47, 53.29]]]}, "properties": {"themes": [{"concepts": [{"id": "environment"}], "scheme": "https://standards.iso.org/iso/19139/resources/gmxCodelists.xml#MD_TopicCategoryCode"}, {"concepts": [{"id": "pollinators"}, {"id": "biodiversity"}], "scheme": "AGROVOC Multilingual agricultural thesaurus"}, {"concepts": [{"id": "opendata"}, {"id": "plant functional traits"}, {"id": "landscape ecology"}, {"id": "hoverfly"}], "scheme": "Individual"}, {"concepts": [{"id": "biodiversity conservation"}, {"id": "bee conservation"}, {"id": "Lebensr\u00e4ume und Biotope"}], "scheme": "GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0"}, {"concepts": [{"id": "Germany"}, {"id": "Brandenburg"}, {"id": "Uckermark"}, {"id": "Quillow"}], "scheme": "Individual"}], "rights": "Restrictions applied to assure the protection of privacy or intellectual property, and any special restrictions or limitations or warnings on using the resource or metadata. Reports, articles, papers, scientific and non - scientific works of any form, including tables, maps, or any other kind of output, in printed or electronic form, based in whole or in part on the data supplied, must contain an acknowledgement of the form: \"Data reused from the BonaRes Data Centre www.bonares.de. This data were created as part of the Other's research activities.\" Although every care has been taken in preparing and testing the data, the Other and the BonaRes Data Centre cannot guarantee that the data are correct; neither does the Other and the BonaRes Data Centre accept any liability whatsoever for any error, missing data or omission in the data, or for any loss or damage arising from its use. The Other and BonaRes Data Centre will not be responsible for any direct or indirect use which might be made of the data. The access to this data is restricted during embargo time. If prior access is requested, contact the data owner / author.", "updated": "2023-08-16", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2022-02-25", "language": "eng", "title": "Pollinator guilds respond contrastingly at different scales to landscape parameters of land-use intensity (Part 1 of data collection, table data_coordinates)", "description": "Wild bee and hoverly species and abundance caught with pan traps (yellow, blue, white) on dry grasslands (n=22) in the AgroScapeLab in three sampling campaigns (May, June, August). Additionally, flowering forb species in the vicinity of traps (r=5m) were recoreded.\n\nResearch domain: Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes\n\nData Collection: Related tables see under Related Identifier", "formats": [{"name": "CSV"}], "keywords": ["pollinators", "biodiversity", "opendata", "plant functional traits", "landscape ecology", "hoverfly", "biodiversity conservation", "bee conservation", "Lebensr\u00e4ume und Biotope", "Germany", "Brandenburg", "Uckermark", "Quillow"], "contacts": [{"name": "BonaRes Data Centre", "organization": "Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)", "position": "Research Platform 'Data Analysis & Simulation' - WG Geodata", "roles": ["publisher"], "phones": [{"value": "+49 33432 82 171"}], "emails": [{"value": "bonares-datenzentrum@zalf.de"}], "addresses": [{"deliveryPoint": ["Eberswalder Strasse 84"], "city": "M\u00fcncheberg", "administrativeArea": "Brandenburg", "postalCode": "15374", "country": "Germany"}], "links": [{"href": null}]}, {"name": "Kolja Bergholz", "organization": "University of Potsdam, Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation", "position": null, "roles": ["author"], "phones": [{"value": null}], "emails": [{"value": "bergholz@uni-potsdam.de"}], "addresses": [{"deliveryPoint": [null], "city": null, "administrativeArea": null, "postalCode": null, "country": null}], "links": [{"href": {"url": null, "protocol": null, "protocol_url": "", "name": "0000-0003-4443-3214", "name_url": "", "description": "ORCID", "description_url": "", "applicationprofile": null, "applicationprofile_url": "", "function": null}}]}, {"name": "Kolja Bergholz", "organization": "University of Potsdam, Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation", "position": null, "roles": ["projectLeader"], "phones": [{"value": null}], "emails": [{"value": "bergholz@uni-potsdam.de"}], "addresses": [{"deliveryPoint": [null], "city": null, "administrativeArea": null, "postalCode": null, "country": null}], "links": [{"href": {"url": null, "protocol": null, "protocol_url": "", "name": "0000-0003-4443-3214", "name_url": "", "description": "ORCID", "description_url": "", "applicationprofile": null, "applicationprofile_url": "", "function": null}}]}, {"name": "Kolja Bergholz", "organization": "University of Potsdam, Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation", "position": null, "roles": ["dataCollector"], "phones": [{"value": null}], "emails": [{"value": "bergholz@uni-potsdam.de"}], "addresses": [{"deliveryPoint": [null], "city": null, "administrativeArea": null, "postalCode": null, "country": null}], "links": [{"href": {"url": null, "protocol": null, "protocol_url": "", "name": "0000-0003-4443-3214", "name_url": "", "description": "ORCID", "description_url": "", "applicationprofile": null, "applicationprofile_url": "", "function": null}}]}, {"name": "Lara Pauline Sittel", "organization": "German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig", "position": null, "roles": ["dataCollector"], "phones": [{"value": null}], "emails": [{"value": "lara-pauline.sittel@idiv.de"}], "addresses": [{"deliveryPoint": [null], "city": null, "administrativeArea": null, "postalCode": null, "country": null}], "links": [{"href": null}]}, {"name": "Michael Ristow", "organization": "University of Potsdam, Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation", "position": null, "roles": ["dataCollector"], "phones": [{"value": null}], "emails": [{"value": "ristow@uni-potsdam.de"}], "addresses": [{"deliveryPoint": [null], "city": null, "administrativeArea": null, "postalCode": null, "country": null}], "links": [{"href": null}]}, {"organization": "University of Potsdam, Plant Ecology & Nature Conservation", "roles": ["contributor"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://maps.bonares.de/mapapps/resources/apps/bonares/index.html?lang=en&mid=86fa9373-ceb9-4be8-8bef-ba387298d562", "rel": "information"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "86fa9373-ceb9-4be8-8bef-ba387298d562", "name": "item", "description": "86fa9373-ceb9-4be8-8bef-ba387298d562", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/86fa9373-ceb9-4be8-8bef-ba387298d562"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"interval": ["2017-05-15T00:00:00Z", "2017-08-18T00:00:00Z"]}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frbh", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:23:18Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Root functional traits determine the magnitude of the rhizosphere priming effect among eight tree species", "description": "Rhizosphere priming effect\u00a0can accelerate or decelerate the decomposition of soil organic matter.\u00a0Using a natural abundance 13C tracer method allowing partitioning of native soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition and plant rhizosphere respiration, we studied the effects of eight tree species on the strength of the rhizosphere priming. All tree species enhanced the rate of SOC decomposition, by 82% on average.\u00a0Mean diameter of first-order roots and root exudate-derived respiration were positively correlated with the RPE, together explaining a large part of the observed variation in the RPE (R2 = 0.72), whereas root branching density was negatively associated with the RPE. Path analyses further suggested that mean diameter of first-order roots was the main driver of the RPE owing to its positive direct effect on the RPE and its indirect effects via root exudate-derived respiration and root branching density. These results demonstrate that the magnitude of the RPE is regulated by complementary aspects of root morphology, architecture and physiology, implying that comprehensive approaches are needed to reveal the multiple mechanisms driving plant effects on the RPE.", "keywords": ["13C natural abundance", "Plant functional traits", "rhizosphere priming effect", "Fine roots", "15. Life on land", "FOS: Natural sciences"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Chao, Lin, Liu, Yanyan, Zhang, Weidong, Wang, Qingkui, Guan, Xin, Yang, Qingpeng, Chen, Longchi, Zhang, Jianbing, Hu, Baoqing, Liu, Zhanfeng, Wang, Silong, Freschet, Gr\u00e9goire T.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frbh"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frbh", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frbh", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frbh"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-02-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5683/SP3/PAXLVH", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:25:52Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Plant and soil variables in plots outside and beneath Salix richardsonii patches along active and abandoned channels in a High Arctic tundra", "description": "We explored how erect shrub abundance leads to SOC variation within 20 cm soil cores in a High Arctic tundra (Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada), where the only erect shrub, Salix richardsonii, has settled along currently active and abandoned channel zones of alluvial fans.", "keywords": ["High Arctic tundra", "Salix arctica", "soil 15N", "15. Life on land", "Salix richardsonii", "soil organic carbon stocks", "soil 14C", "soil 13C", "Salix reticulata", "Particulate organic matter", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "Shrubification", "Plant-enhanced mineralization;", "Plant functional traits", "Alluvian fan"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Maire, Vincent, Lamarque, Laurent, L\u00e9vesque, Esther,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/PAXLVH"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5683/SP3/PAXLVH", "name": "item", "description": "10.5683/SP3/PAXLVH", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5683/SP3/PAXLVH"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1959.7/uws:46474", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-03T16:27:31Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-04-19", "title": "Plant attributes explain the distribution of soil microbial communities in two contrasting regions of the globe", "description": "Summary
We lack strong empirical evidence for links between plant attributes (plant community attributes and functional traits) and the distribution of soil microbial communities at large spatial scales.
Using datasets from two contrasting regions and ecosystem types in Australia and England, we report that aboveground plant community attributes, such as diversity (species richness) and cover, and functional traits can predict a unique portion of the variation in the diversity (number of phylotypes) and community composition of soil bacteria and fungi that cannot be explained by soil abiotic properties and climate. We further identify the relative importance and evaluate the potential direct and indirect effects of climate, soil properties and plant attributes in regulating the diversity and community composition of soil microbial communities.
Finally, we deliver a list of examples of common taxa from Australia and England that are strongly related to specific plant traits, such as specific leaf area index, leaf nitrogen and nitrogen fixation.
Together, our work provides new evidence that plant attributes, especially plant functional traits, can predict the distribution of soil microbial communities at the regional scale and across two hemispheres.