Gypsum soils are amongst the most widespread extreme substrates of the world, occurring in 112 countries. This type of hypercalcic substrate has a suite of extreme physical and chemical properties that make it stressful for plant establishment and growth. Extreme chemical properties include low plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus and high plant-available sulphur and calcium, which impose strong nutritional imbalances on plants. In spite of these edaphic barriers, gypsum soils harbour rich endemic floras that have evolved independently on five continents, with highly specialized species. Plants that only grow on gypsum are considered soil specialists, and they have a foliar elemental composition similar to the elemental availability of gypsum soils, with high calcium, sulphur and magnesium accumulation. However, the physiological and ecological role of the unique foliar elemental composition of gypsum specialists remains poorly understood, and it is unknown whether it provides an ecological advantage over other generalist species on gypsum soils. This article reviews available literature on the impact of gypsum soil features on plant life and the mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to gypsum environments. We conclude with a hypothesis on the potential role of the nutritional strategy underlying plant specialization to gypsum soils: Gypsum specialists primarily use SO42\uffe2\uff80\uff93 as a counter anion to tolerate high Ca2+ concentrations in cells and avoid phosphorus depletion, which is one of the most limiting nutrients in gypsum soils.
Drought periods are projected to become more severe and more frequent in many European regions. While effects of single strong droughts on plant and microbial carbon (C) dynamics have been studied in some detail, impacts of recurrent drought events are still little understood.
We tested whether the legacy of extreme experimental drought affects responses of plant and microbial C and nitrogen (N) turnover to further drought and rewetting. In a mountain grassland, we conducted a 13C pulse\uffe2\uff80\uff90chase experiment during a naturally occurring drought and rewetting event in plots previously exposed to experimental droughts and in ambient controls (AC). After labelling, we traced 13C below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground allocation and incorporation into soil microbes using phospholipid fatty acid biomarkers.
Drought history (DH) had no effects on the standing shoot and fine root plant biomass. However, plants with experimental DH displayed decreased shoot N concentrations and increased fine root N concentrations relative to those in AC. During the natural drought, plants with DH assimilated and allocated less 13C below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground; moreover, fine root respiration was reduced and not fuelled by fresh C compared to plants in AC.
Regardless of DH, microbial biomass remained stable during natural drought and rewetting. Although microbial communities initially differed in their composition between soils with and without DH, they responded to the natural drought and rewetting in a similar way: gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90positive bacteria increased, while fungal and gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90negative bacteria remained stable. In soils with DH, a strongly reduced uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived 13C in microbial biomarkers was observed during the natural drought, pointing to a smaller fraction of active microbes or to a microbial community that is less dependent on plant C.
Synthesis. Drought history can induce changes in above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs. below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground plant N concentrations and affect the response of plant C turnover to further droughts and rewetting by decreasing plant C uptake and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground allocation. DH does not affect the responses of the microbial community to further droughts and rewetting, but alters microbial functioning, particularly the turnover of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived carbon, during and after further drought periods.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "NITROGEN TURNOVER", "Biomass Allocation", "microbial community composition", "Negibacteria", "drought", "phospholipid fatty acid", "nitrogen", "Microbial community composition", "Plant\u2013Soil (Below\u2010ground) Interactions", "Recovery", "ROOT RESPIRATION", "Plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "CLIMATE EXTREMES", "C pulse labelling", "Below-ground carbon allocation", "2. Zero hunger", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "0303 health sciences", "SOIL INTERACTIONS", "below-ground carbon allocation", "C-13 pulse labelling", "Grassland", "6. Clean water", "Europe", "Phospholipid", "ORGANIC-MATTER", "Mountain Region", "Posibacteria", "DIOXIDE PULSES", "Phospholipid fatty acid", "106022 Microbiology", "Root/shoot Ratio", "Belowground Biomass", "Ecosystem Resilience", "Nitrogen", "Microbial Community", "Carbon Isotope", "Soil-vegetation Interaction", "recovery", "SUMMER DROUGHT", "03 medical and health sciences", "Rewetting", "Community Composition", "plant\u2013soil (below-ground) interactions", "WATER-STRESS", "resilience", "Drought", "Resilience", "RESILIENCE", "15. Life on land", "Turnover", "Microbial Activity", "13. Climate action", "Fatty Acid", "RESPONSES"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12593"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2745.12593", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2745.12593", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2745.12593"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-05-24T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1365-2664.13489", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:26Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-08-19", "title": "Plant trait\u2010based approaches to improve nitrogen cycling in agroecosystems", "description": "Abstract
Intensive agriculture is dominated by monocultures of high\uffe2\uff80\uff90yielding plants that receive large applications of nitrogen (N) fertilizers to boost plant productivity. However, these systems have low N use efficiency (NUE) as fertilized plants generally take up less than half of the N applied. A large fraction of the remainder N is susceptible to be lost from the agroecosystem generating a cascade of environmental and socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90economic problems. Climate change and projected global increases in fertilizer use pose further risks to N losses and yield stability.
We review and translate concepts from ecology in natural systems to demonstrate that NUE in intensive agroecosystems can be strongly increased by fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90tuning the traits of the plant communities to the levels of N fertilization intensity.
We present key plant traits of importance for N\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling (architectural, morphological and physiological traits, as well as symbiotic associations and exudation patterns); discuss ecological (with soil fauna and N\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling microbial communities) and agronomic interactions of this approach; propose interdisciplinary methodologies for future research ranging from pot to global scales; and highlight possible solutions leading to an optimal balance between N fertilizer use and productivity.
Synthesis and applications. By showing the strong links between plant traits and nitrogen (N) cycling, our work opens possibilities to test ecologically informed hypotheses across gradients of soil fertility and N fertilizer management intensity, setting a research agenda for the coming years. Accordingly, the choice of plant species based on their functional traits will play a central role for the development of modern and productive agroecosystems that retain and use N more efficiently.
Root functional traits are known to influence soil properties that underpin ecosystem functioning. Yet few studies have explored how root traits simultaneously influence physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil, or how these responses are modified by common grassland perturbations that shape roots, such as defoliation and fertilisation.
Here, we explored how root traits of a wide range of grassland plant species with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (i.e. conservative vs. exploitative strategy plant species) respond to defoliation and fertilisation individually and in combination, and examined cascading impacts on a range of soil abiotic and biotic properties that underpin ecosystem functioning.
We found that the amplitude of the response of root traits to defoliation and fertilisation varied among plant species, in most cases independently of plant resource acquisition strategies. However, the direction of the root trait responses (increase or decrease) to perturbations was consistent across all plant species, with defoliation and fertilisation exerting opposing effects on root traits. Specific root length increased relative to non\uffe2\uff80\uff90perturbed control in response to defoliation, while root biomass, root mass density, and root length density decreased. Fertilisation induced the opposite responses. We also found that both defoliation and fertilisation individually enhanced the role of root traits in regulating soil biotic and abiotic properties, especially soil aggregate stability.
Synthesis: Our results indicate that defoliation and fertilisation, two common grassland perturbations, have contrasting impacts on root traits of grassland plant species, with direct and indirect short\uffe2\uff80\uff90term consequences for a wide range of soil abiotic and biotic properties that underpin ecosystem functioning.
", "keywords": ["Plant traits", "Soil nutrients", "0106 biological sciences", "Plant-soil interactions", "Growth strategy", "Soil microbial community", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Perturbations", "01 natural sciences", "Soil aggregates", "Research Articles"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14215"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2745.14215", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2745.14215", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2745.14215"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-10-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.16768", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:56Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-07-03", "title": "Phylogenetic signals and predictability in plant\u2013soil feedbacks", "description": "SummaryThere is strong evidence for a phylogenetic signal in the degree to which species share co\uffe2\uff80\uff90evolved biotic partners and in the outcomes of biotic interactions. This implies there should be a phylogenetic signal in the outcome of feedbacks between plants and the soil microbiota they cultivate. However, attempts to identify a phylogenetic signal in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks have produced mixed results.
Here we clarify how phylogenetic signals could arise in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks and use a recent compilation of data from feedback experiments to identify: whether there is a phylogenetic signal in the outcome of plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks; and whether any signal arises through directional or divergent changes in feedback outcomes with evolutionary time.
We find strong evidence for a divergent phylogenetic signal in feedback outcomes. Distantly related plant species show more divergent responses to each other\uffe2\uff80\uff99s soil microbiota compared with closely related plant species. The pattern of divergence implies occasional co\uffe2\uff80\uff90evolutionary shifts in how plants interact with soil microbiota, with strongly contrasting feedback responses among some plant lineages.
Our results highlight that it is difficult to predict feedback outcomes from phylogeny alone, other than to say that more closely related species tend to have more similar responses.
Global environmental change poses threats to plant and soil biodiversity. Yet, whether soil biodiversity loss can further influence plant community\uffe2\uff80\uff99s response to global change is still poorly understood.
We created a gradient of soil biodiversity using the dilution\uffe2\uff80\uff90to\uffe2\uff80\uff90extinction approach, and investigated the effects of soil biodiversity loss on plant communities during and following manipulations simulating global change disturbances in experimental grassland microcosms.
Grass and herb biomass was decreased by drought and promoted by nitrogen deposition, and a fast recovery was observed following disturbances, independently of soil biodiversity loss. Warming promoted herb biomass during and following disturbance only when soil biodiversity was not reduced. However, legumes biomass was suppressed by these disturbances, and there were more detrimental effects with reduced soil biodiversity. Moreover, soil biodiversity loss suppressed the recovery of legumes following these disturbances. Similar patterns were found for the response of plant diversity. The changes in legumes might be partly attributed to the loss of mycorrhizal soil mutualists.
Our study shows that soil biodiversity is crucial for legume persistence and plant diversity maintenance when faced with environmental change, highlighting the importance of soil biodiversity as a potential buffering mechanism for plant diversity and community composition in grasslands.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "0303 health sciences", "warming", "Climate Change", "Fabaceae", "arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi", "Biodiversity", "drought", "plant\u2013soil interactions", "500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie", "15. Life on land", "Grassland", "nitrogen deposition", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "biodiversity loss", "13. Climate action", "Biomass", "dilution-to-extinction approach", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nph.17065"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17065"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/nph.17065", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/nph.17065", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/nph.17065"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-12-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.18118", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:18:57Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-03-26", "title": "Deciphering the role of specialist and generalist plant\u2013microbial interactions as drivers of plant\u2013soil feedback", "description": "SummaryFeedback between plants and soil microbial communities can be a powerful driver of vegetation dynamics. Plants elicit changes in the soil microbiome that either promote or suppress conspecifics at the same location, thereby regulating population density\uffe2\uff80\uff90dependence and species co\uffe2\uff80\uff90existence. Such effects are often attributed to the accumulation of host\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific antagonistic or beneficial microbiota in the rhizosphere. However, the identity and host\uffe2\uff80\uff90specificity of the microbial taxa involved are rarely empirically assessed. Here we review the evidence for host\uffe2\uff80\uff90specificity in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90associated microbes and propose that specific plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks can also be driven by generalists. We outline the potential mechanisms by which generalist microbial pathogens, mutualists and decomposers can generate differential effects on plant hosts and synthesize existing evidence to predict these effects as a function of plant investments into defence, microbial mutualists and dispersal. Importantly, the capacity of generalist microbiota to drive plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks depends not only on the traits of individual plants but also on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of plant communities. Identifying factors that promote specialization or generalism in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93microbial interactions and thereby modulate the impact of microbiota on plant performance will advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedback and the ways it contributes to plant co\uffe2\uff80\uff90existence.Microplastics affect plants and soil biota and the processes they drive. However, the legacy effect of microplastics on plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks is still unknown. To address this, we used soil conditioned from a previous experiment, where Daucus carota grew with 12 different microplastic types (conditioning phase). Here, we extracted soil inoculum from those 12 soils and grew during 4\uffe2\uff80\uff89weeks a native D. carota and a range-expanding plant species Calamagrostis epigejos in soils amended with this inoculum (feedback phase). At harvest, plant biomass and root morphological traits were measured. Films led to positive feedback on shoot mass (higher mass with inoculum from soil conditioned with microplastics than with inoculum from control soil). Films may decrease soil water content in the conditioning phase, potentially reducing the abundance of harmful soil biota, which, with films also promoting mutualist abundance, microbial activity and carbon mineralization, would positively affect plant growth in the feedback phase. Foams and fragments caused positive feedback on shoot mass likely via positive effects on soil aeration in the conditioning phase, which could have increased mutualistic biota and soil enzymatic activity, promoting plant growth. By contrast, fibers caused negative feedback on root mass as this microplastic may have increased soil water content in the conditioning phase, promoting the abundance of soil pathogens with negative consequences for root mass. Microplastics had a legacy effect on root traits: D. carota had thicker roots probably for promoting mycorrhizal associations, while C. epigejos had reduced root diameter probably for diminishing pathogenic infection. Microplastic legacy on soil can be positive or negative depending on the plant species identity and may affect plant biomass primarily via root traits. This legacy may contribute to the competitive success of range-expanding species via positive effects on root mass (foams) and on shoot mass (PET films). Overall, microplastics depending on their shape and polymer type, affect plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks.
", "keywords": ["580", "0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "soil inocula", "Plant culture", "Plant Science", "plant\u2013soil interactions", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "SB1-1110", "root morphological traits", "03 medical and health sciences", "500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::580 Pflanzen (Botanik)::580 Pflanzen (Botanik)", "polymer type", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "microplastic shape", "plant biomass"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.965576"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Frontiers%20in%20Plant%20Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3389/fpls.2022.965576", "name": "item", "description": "10.3389/fpls.2022.965576", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3389/fpls.2022.965576"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-04-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.02v6wwq07", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:18Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Frequent burning causes large losses of carbon from deep soil layers in a temperate savanna", "description": "1. Fire activity is changing dramatically across the globe, with uncertain effects on ecosystem processes, especially belowground. Fire\u2010driven losses of soil carbon (C) are often assumed to occur primarily in the upper soil layers because the repeated combustion of aboveground biomass limits organic matter inputs into surface soil. However, C losses from deeper soil may occur if frequent burning reduces root biomass inputs of C into deep soil layers or stimulates losses of C via leaching and priming. 2. To assess the effects of fire on soil C, we sampled 12 plots in a 51\u2010year\u2010long fire frequency manipulation experiment in a temperate oak savanna, where variation in prescribed burning frequency has created a gradient in vegetation structure from closed\u2010canopy forest in unburned plots to open\u2010canopy savanna in frequently burned plots. 3. Soil C stocks were non\u2010linearly related to fire frequency, with soil C peaking in savanna plots burned at an intermediate fire frequency and declining in the most frequently burned plots. Losses from deep soil pools were significant, with the absolute difference between intermediately burned plots versus. most frequently burned plots more than doubling when the full 1\u00a0m sample was considered rather than the top 0\u201320\u00a0cm alone (losses of 98.5 MgC ha\u20101\u00a0(\u221276%) and 42.3 MgC ha\u20101\u00a0(\u221268%) in the full 1\u00a0m and 0\u201320\u00a0cm layers, respectively). Compared to unburned forested plots, the most frequently burned plots had 65.8 MgC ha\u20101\u00a0(\u221258%) less C in the full 1\u00a0m sample. Root biomass below the top 20\u00a0cm also declined by 39% with more frequent burning. Concurrent fire\u2010driven losses of nitrogen and gains in calcium and phosphorus suggest that burning may increase nitrogen limitation and play a key role in the calcium and phosphorus cycles in temperate savannas. 4.\u00a0Synthesis: Our results illustrate that fire\u2010driven losses in soil C and root biomass in deep soil layers may be critical factors regulating the net effect of shifting fire regimes on ecosystem C in forest\u2010savanna transitions. Projected changes in soil C with shifting fire frequencies in savannas may be 50% too low if they only consider changes in the topsoil.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "repeated burning", "13. Climate action", "Plant\u2013soil interactions", "soil nutrients", "15. Life on land", "Soil carbon"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Pellegrini, Adam Francis, McLauchlan, Kendra K., Hobbie, Sarah E., Mack, Michelle C., Marcotte, Abbey L., Nelson, David M., Perakis, Steven, Reich, Peter B., Whittinghill, Kyle,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.02v6wwq07"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.02v6wwq07", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.02v6wwq07", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.02v6wwq07"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-02-04T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.bb49h", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:24Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Consequences of grazer-induced vegetation transitions on ecosystem carbon storage in the tundra", "description": "unspecified1. Large herbivores can control plant community composition and, under certain conditions, even induce vegetation shifts to alternative ecosystem states. As different plant assemblages maintain contrasting carbon (C) cycling patterns, herbivores have the potential to alter C sequestration at regional scales. Their influence is of particular interest in the Arctic tundra, where a large share of the world\u2019s soil C reservoir is stored. 2. We analysed how grazing mammals influence tundra vegetation and how grazer-induced vegetation shifts affect tundra C stocks, by resampling two sites located along pasture rotation fences in northern Norway. These fences have separated lightly grazed areas from heavily grazed areas (in close proximity to the fences) and moderately grazed areas (further away from the fences) for the past 50 years. 14 years earlier, the lightly and moderately grazed areas were dominated by dwarf shrubs, whereas heavy grazing had promoted the establishment of graminoid-dominated vegetation. Since then, both reindeer densities and temperatures have increased, and more time has passed for transient dynamics to be expressed. We expected that the vegetation and C stocks would have changed under all grazing intensities, but not necessarily in the same way. 3. At the site where relative reindeer numbers and trampling intensity had increased the most, graminoid-dominated vegetation was now also found in the moderately grazed area. At the other site, the dominant vegetation types under all grazing intensities were the same as 14 years earlier. 4. We show that the heavily grazed, graminoid-dominated, areas stored less C aboveground than the lightly grazed, shrub-dominated, areas. Yet, the belowground consequences of grazing-induced grassification varied between the sites: Grazing did not alter organic soil C stocks at the site where both evergreen and deciduous shrubs were abundant in the lightly grazed area, whereas heavy grazing increased organic soil C stocks at the site where the deciduous shrub Betula nana was dominant. 5. Our results indicate that despite the negative impacts of grazers on aboveground C storage, their impact on belowground C may even be positive. We suggest that the site-specific responses of organic soil C stocks to grazing could be explained by the differences in vegetation under light grazing. This would imply that the replacement of deciduous shrubs by graminoids, as a consequence of grazing, could be beneficial for C sequestration in tundra soils.", "keywords": ["carbon stocks", "Plant functional types", "13. Climate action", "Plant\u2013soil interactions", "15. Life on land", "Soil carbon", "Rangifer tarandus"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Yl\u00e4nne, Henni, Olofsson, Johan, Oksanen, Lauri, Stark, Sari,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bb49h"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.bb49h", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.bb49h", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.bb49h"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-11-21T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xk8", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:28Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Patterns and determinants of plant-derived lignin phenols in coastal wetlands: implications for organic C accumulation", "description": "unspecifiedPlease see the README document\u00a0\u00a0('Lignin_content_and_monomer_composition.csv', 'Site_location.csv', 'Soil_organic_carbon_content.csv', 'Soil_properties.csv', 'Vegetation_and_climate.csv') and the accompanying published article: Shaopan Xia, Zhaoliang Song, Weiqi Wang, Yaran Fan, Laodong Guo, Lukas Van Zwieten, Iain P. Hartley, Yin Fang, Yidong Wang, Zhenqing Zhang, Cong-Qiang Liu, and Hailong Wang. 2023. Patterns and determinants of plant-derived lignin phenols in coastal wetlands: implications for organic C accumulation. Functional Ecology. Accepted. DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xk8", "keywords": ["lignin biomarker", "salt marsh and mangrove", "13. Climate action", "plant-soil Interactions", "blue carbon", "organic C source apportionment", "14. Life underwater", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Song, Zhaoliang, Xia, Shaopan, Wang, Weiqi, Fan, Yaran, Guo, Laodong, Van Zwieten, Lukas, Hartley, Iain P., Fang, Yin, Wang, Yidong, Zhang, Zhenqing, Liu, Cong-Qiang, Wang, Hailong,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xk8"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xk8", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xk8", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xk8"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-02-02T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.mkkwh715b", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:29Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Positive plant diversity effects on soil microbial drought resistance are linked to variation in labile carbon and microbial community structure", "description": "Biodiversity loss and drought are substantially altering both above-and belowground terrestrial ecosystem functioning, but mechanistic understanding of plant diversity effects on the drought resistance of soil microbial biomass remains limited.\u00a0 We designed a mesocosm experiment to examine drought resistance of soil microbial biomass along a plant species richness gradient (five plant species richness levels based on old-field communities). We calculated resistance of microbial biomass to drought and recorded key belowground properties which may influence microbial resistance to drought (i.e., microbial diversity, microbial community structure, soil carbon stocks and root biomass).\u00a0 Plant species richness had a positive effect on microbial resistance to drought. Variation in microbial resistance to drought was linked to properties of the fungal community in ambient soil (Shannon diversity, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal richness and abundance) but not soil bacterial diversity. Moreover, microbial resistance to drought increased with increasing root biomass and dissolved organic carbon recorded under ambient conditions.\u00a0 These results highlight the importance of plant diversity for microbial biomass stability in our old-field study system with implications for biogeochemical cycling, and suggest that indirect effects of plant species richness on labile soil carbon and soil fungi may drive resistance of soil microbial biomass to drought.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "resistance", "biodiversity loss", "ecosystem stability", "Drought", "13. Climate action", "plant-soil Interactions", "FOS: Biological sciences", "14. Life underwater", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Xi, Nianxun, Chen, Dongxia, Liu, Wei, Bloor, Juliette,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mkkwh715b"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.mkkwh715b", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.mkkwh715b", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.mkkwh715b"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-06-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.14863825", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:22:46Z", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2024-09-22", "title": "Global mycorrhizal status drives leaf \u03b415N patterns", "description": "Open AccessFoliar \u03b415N values were obtained from a recent version of the global dataset described by Craine et al. (2018) that was updated with newly published data for Meta-analyses. \u00a0Multi-year average MAT, MAP, and PET maps with a spatial resolution of 4 km \u00d7 4 km for 1982 through 2018 were extracted from the TerraClimate dataset (Abatzoglou et al., 2018). AI values (defined as the ratio of precipitation to PET) were calculated from MAP and PET values. A digital elevation model (DEM) map with a spatial resolution of 1 km \u00d7 1 km was extracted from the Global Land One km Base Elevation (GLOBE) Project (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/globe.html). A slope map was generated from the DEM map. Soil clay, silt, sand, soil organic carbon (SOC), and TN contents with a spatial resolution of 250 m \u00d7 250 m were obtained from the SoilGrids dataset (Hengl et al., 2017). Multi-year (1982\u20132018) GPP values were calculated using data from the Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) project (Liang et al., 2021). Multi-year (1982\u20132015) average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values were calculated from the GIMMS3g dataset (Tucker et al., 2005). The mycorrhizal plant type map (showing the distribution of AM, ECM, ERM, and NM plants) was generated from maps showing the proportional aboveground plant biomass of AM, ECM, ERM, and NM plants (Soudzilovskaia et al., 2019) for Random Forest.", "keywords": ["Isotopes", "15N", "Ecosystem ecology", "global pattern", "nitrogen dynamics", "Plant\u2013soil interactions", "ecosystem ecology", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "plant\u2013soil interactions", "mycorrhizae", "isotopes", "\u03b415N"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Chen, Qiong, Li, Huiwen, Yu, Fei, Lyu, Ruobing, Li, Zhenxin, Hao, Zhanqing, Yuan, Zuoqiang,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14863825"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.14863825", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.14863825", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.14863825"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2025-02-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.14863826", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:22:46Z", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2024-09-22", "title": "Global mycorrhizal status drives leaf \u03b415N patterns", "description": "unspecifiedFoliar \u03b415N values were obtained from a recent version of the global dataset described by Craine et al. (2018) that was updated with newly published data for Meta-analyses. \u00a0Multi-year average MAT, MAP, and PET maps with a spatial resolution of 4 km \u00d7 4 km for 1982 through 2018 were extracted from the TerraClimate dataset (Abatzoglou et al., 2018). AI values (defined as the ratio of precipitation to PET) were calculated from MAP and PET values. A digital elevation model (DEM) map with a spatial resolution of 1 km \u00d7 1 km was extracted from the Global Land One km Base Elevation (GLOBE) Project (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/topo/globe.html). A slope map was generated from the DEM map. Soil clay, silt, sand, soil organic carbon (SOC), and TN contents with a spatial resolution of 250 m \u00d7 250 m were obtained from the SoilGrids dataset (Hengl et al., 2017). Multi-year (1982\u20132018) GPP values were calculated using data from the Global Land Surface Satellite (GLASS) project (Liang et al., 2021). Multi-year (1982\u20132015) average normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values were calculated from the GIMMS3g dataset (Tucker et al., 2005). The mycorrhizal plant type map (showing the distribution of AM, ECM, ERM, and NM plants) was generated from maps showing the proportional aboveground plant biomass of AM, ECM, ERM, and NM plants (Soudzilovskaia et al., 2019) for Random Forest.", "keywords": ["Isotopes", "15N", "Ecosystem ecology", "global pattern", "nitrogen dynamics", "Plant\u2013soil interactions", "ecosystem ecology", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "plant\u2013soil interactions", "mycorrhizae", "isotopes", "\u03b415N"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Chen, Qiong, Li, Huiwen, Yu, Fei, Lyu, Ruobing, Li, Zhenxin, Hao, Zhanqing, Yuan, Zuoqiang,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14863826"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.14863826", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.14863826", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.14863826"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2025-02-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10261/345561", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:24:39Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-06-29", "title": "Nutritional strategy underlying plant specialization to gypsum soils", "description": "AbstractGypsum soils are amongst the most widespread extreme substrates of the world, occurring in 112 countries. This type of hypercalcic substrate has a suite of extreme physical and chemical properties that make it stressful for plant establishment and growth. Extreme chemical properties include low plant-available nitrogen and phosphorus and high plant-available sulphur and calcium, which impose strong nutritional imbalances on plants. In spite of these edaphic barriers, gypsum soils harbour rich endemic floras that have evolved independently on five continents, with highly specialized species. Plants that only grow on gypsum are considered soil specialists, and they have a foliar elemental composition similar to the elemental availability of gypsum soils, with high calcium, sulphur and magnesium accumulation. However, the physiological and ecological role of the unique foliar elemental composition of gypsum specialists remains poorly understood, and it is unknown whether it provides an ecological advantage over other generalist species on gypsum soils. This article reviews available literature on the impact of gypsum soil features on plant life and the mechanisms underlying plant adaptation to gypsum environments. We conclude with a hypothesis on the potential role of the nutritional strategy underlying plant specialization to gypsum soils: Gypsum specialists primarily use SO42\uffe2\uff80\uff93 as a counter anion to tolerate high Ca2+ concentrations in cells and avoid phosphorus depletion, which is one of the most limiting nutrients in gypsum soils.
Intensive agriculture is dominated by monocultures of high\uffe2\uff80\uff90yielding plants that receive large applications of nitrogen (N) fertilizers to boost plant productivity. However, these systems have low N use efficiency (NUE) as fertilized plants generally take up less than half of the N applied. A large fraction of the remainder N is susceptible to be lost from the agroecosystem generating a cascade of environmental and socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90economic problems. Climate change and projected global increases in fertilizer use pose further risks to N losses and yield stability.
We review and translate concepts from ecology in natural systems to demonstrate that NUE in intensive agroecosystems can be strongly increased by fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90tuning the traits of the plant communities to the levels of N fertilization intensity.
We present key plant traits of importance for N\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling (architectural, morphological and physiological traits, as well as symbiotic associations and exudation patterns); discuss ecological (with soil fauna and N\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling microbial communities) and agronomic interactions of this approach; propose interdisciplinary methodologies for future research ranging from pot to global scales; and highlight possible solutions leading to an optimal balance between N fertilizer use and productivity.
Synthesis and applications. By showing the strong links between plant traits and nitrogen (N) cycling, our work opens possibilities to test ecologically informed hypotheses across gradients of soil fertility and N fertilizer management intensity, setting a research agenda for the coming years. Accordingly, the choice of plant species based on their functional traits will play a central role for the development of modern and productive agroecosystems that retain and use N more efficiently.
Feedback between plants and soil microbial communities can be a powerful driver of vegetation dynamics. Plants elicit changes in the soil microbiome that either promote or suppress conspecifics at the same location, thereby regulating population density\uffe2\uff80\uff90dependence and species co\uffe2\uff80\uff90existence. Such effects are often attributed to the accumulation of host\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific antagonistic or beneficial microbiota in the rhizosphere. However, the identity and host\uffe2\uff80\uff90specificity of the microbial taxa involved are rarely empirically assessed. Here we review the evidence for host\uffe2\uff80\uff90specificity in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90associated microbes and propose that specific plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks can also be driven by generalists. We outline the potential mechanisms by which generalist microbial pathogens, mutualists and decomposers can generate differential effects on plant hosts and synthesize existing evidence to predict these effects as a function of plant investments into defence, microbial mutualists and dispersal. Importantly, the capacity of generalist microbiota to drive plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks depends not only on the traits of individual plants but also on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of plant communities. Identifying factors that promote specialization or generalism in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93microbial interactions and thereby modulate the impact of microbiota on plant performance will advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedback and the ways it contributes to plant co\uffe2\uff80\uff90existence.There is strong evidence for a phylogenetic signal in the degree to which species share co\uffe2\uff80\uff90evolved biotic partners and in the outcomes of biotic interactions. This implies there should be a phylogenetic signal in the outcome of feedbacks between plants and the soil microbiota they cultivate. However, attempts to identify a phylogenetic signal in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks have produced mixed results.
Here we clarify how phylogenetic signals could arise in plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks and use a recent compilation of data from feedback experiments to identify: whether there is a phylogenetic signal in the outcome of plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedbacks; and whether any signal arises through directional or divergent changes in feedback outcomes with evolutionary time.
We find strong evidence for a divergent phylogenetic signal in feedback outcomes. Distantly related plant species show more divergent responses to each other\uffe2\uff80\uff99s soil microbiota compared with closely related plant species. The pattern of divergence implies occasional co\uffe2\uff80\uff90evolutionary shifts in how plants interact with soil microbiota, with strongly contrasting feedback responses among some plant lineages.
Our results highlight that it is difficult to predict feedback outcomes from phylogeny alone, other than to say that more closely related species tend to have more similar responses.