{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10261/359343", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:23:51Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Plant affinity to extreme soils and foliar sulphur mediate species-specific responses to sheep grazing in gypsum systems [Dataset V2]", "description": "Open AccessPeer reviewed", "keywords": ["Semiarid systems", "Gypsophiles", "Elemental composition", "Gypsum soils", "Herbivory", "Functional traits"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Cera, Andreu, Montserrat-Mart\u00ed, Gabriel, Luzuriaga, Arantzazu L., Pueyo, Yolanda, Palacio, Sara,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10261/359343"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10261/359343", "name": "item", "description": "10261/359343", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10261/359343"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1854/LU-8732814", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:24:18Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-11-09", "title": "Litter quality, mycorrhizal association, and soil properties regulate effects of tree species on the soil fauna community", "description": "Abstract Forest management, including selection of appropriate tree species to mitigate climate change and sustain biodiversity, requires a better understanding of factors that affect the composition of soil fauna communities. These communities are an integral part of the soil ecosystem and play an essential role in forest ecosystem functioning related to carbon and nitrogen cycling. Here, by performing a field study across six common gardens in Denmark, we evaluated the effects of tree species identity and mycorrhizal association (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) and ectomycorrhiza (ECM)) on soil fauna (meso- and macrofauna) taxonomic and functional community composition by using diversity, abundance, and biomass as proxies. We found that (1) tree species identity and mycorrhizal association both showed significant effects on soil fauna communities, but the separation between community characteristics in AM and ECM tree species was not entirely consistent; (2) total soil fauna abundance, biomass, as well as taxonomic and functional diversity were generally significantly higher under AM tree species, as well as lime, with higher litter quality (high N and base cation and low lignin:N ratio); (3) tree species significantly influenced the properties of litter, forest floor, and soil, among which litter and/or forest floor N, P, Ca, and Mg concentrations, soil pH, and soil moisture predominantly affected soil fauna abundance, biomass, and taxonomic and functional diversity. Our results from this multisite common garden experiment provide strong and consistent evidence of positive effects of tree species with higher litter quality on soil fauna communities in general, which helps to better understand the effects of tree species selection on soil biodiversity and its functions related to forest soil carbon sequestration.", "keywords": ["DECOMPOSITION", "EARTHWORMS", "Diversity", "PH", "FOREST FLOOR", "Common garden experiment", "Soil meso- and macrofauna", "DIVERSITY", "Biology and Life Sciences", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "NITROGEN", "CARBON", "Taxonomic group", "FUNCTIONAL TRAITS", "Abundance", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "Functional group", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "BIODIVERSITY", "ABUNDANCE", "Biomass"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/1854/LU-8732814"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Geoderma", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "1854/LU-8732814", "name": "item", "description": "1854/LU-8732814", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/1854/LU-8732814"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-02-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ecm.1507", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:14:03Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-01-09", "title": "Lessons learned from a long\u2010term irrigation experiment in a dry Scots pine forest: Impacts on traits and functioning", "description": "Abstract

Climate change exposes ecosystems to strong and rapid changes in their environmental boundary conditions mainly due to the altered temperature and precipitation patterns. It is still poorly understood how fast interlinked ecosystem processes respond to altered environmental conditions, if these responses occur gradually or suddenly when thresholds are exceeded, and if the patterns of the responses will reach a stable state. We conducted an irrigation experiment in the Pfynwald, Switzerland from 2003\uffe2\uff80\uff932018. A naturally dry Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest was irrigated with amounts that doubled natural precipitation, thus releasing the forest stand from water limitation. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative understanding on how different traits and functions of individual trees and the whole ecosystem responded to increased water availability, and how the patterns and magnitudes of these responses developed over time. We found that the response magnitude, the temporal trajectory of responses, and the length of initial lag period prior to significant response largely varied across traits. We detected rapid and stronger responses from aboveground tree traits (e.g., tree\uffe2\uff80\uff90ring width, needle length, and crown transparency) compared to belowground tree traits (e.g., fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90root biomass). The altered aboveground traits during the initial years of irrigation increased the water demand and trees adjusted by increasing root biomass during the later years of irrigation, resulting in an increased survival rate of Scots pine trees in irrigated plots. The irrigation also stimulated ecosystem\uffe2\uff80\uff90level foliar decomposition rate, fungal fruit body biomass, and regeneration abundances of broadleaved tree species. However, irrigation did not promote the regeneration of Scots pine trees, which are reported to be vulnerable to extreme droughts. Our results provide extensive evidence that tree\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and ecosystem\uffe2\uff80\uff90level responses were pervasive across a number of traits on long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term temporal scales. However, after reaching a peak, the magnitude of these responses either decreased or reached a new stable state, providing important insights into how resource alterations could change the system functioning and its boundary conditions.

Trait-environment relationships have been described at the community level across tree species. However, whether interspecific trait-environment relationships are consistent at the intraspecific level is yet unknown. Moreover, we do not know how consistent is the response between organ vs. whole-tree level.

We examined phenotypic variability for 16 functional leaf (dimensions, nutrient, chlorophyll) and wood traits (density) across two soil types, Ferralitic Soil (FS) vs. White Sands (WS), on two sites for 70 adult trees of Cecropia obtusa Tr\uffc3\uffa9cul (Urticaceae) in French Guiana. Cecropia is a widespread pioneer Neotropical genus that generally dominates early successional forest stages. To understand how soil types impact resource-use through the processes of growth and branching, we examined the architectural development with a retrospective analysis of growth trajectories. We expect soil types to affect both, functional traits in relation to resource acquisition strategy as already described at the interspecific level, and growth strategies due to resource limitations with reduced growth on poor soils.

Functional traits were not involved in the soil response, as only two traits-leaf residual water content and K content-showed significant differences across soil types. Soil effects were stronger on growth trajectories, with WS trees having the slowest growth trajectories and less numerous branches across their lifespan.

The analysis of growth trajectories based on architectural analysis improved our ability to characterise the response of trees with soil types. The intraspecific variability is higher for growth trajectories than functional traits for C. obtusa , revealing the complementarity of the architectural approach with the functional approach to gain insights on the way trees manage their resources over their lifetime. Soil-related responses of Cecropia functional traits are not the same as those at the interspecific level, suggesting that the effects of the acting ecological processes are different between the two levels. Apart from soil differences, much variation was found across sites, which calls for further investigation of the factors shaping growth trajectories in tropical forests.

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.

Competition can be fully hierarchical or intransitive, and this degree of hierarchy is driven by multiple factors, including environmental conditions, the functional traits of the species involved or the topology of competition networks. Studies simultaneously analysing these drivers of competition hierarchy are rare. Additionally, organisms compete either directly or via interference competition for resources or space, within a local neighbourhood or across the habitat. Therefore, the drivers of competition could change accordingly and depend on the taxa studied.

We performed the first multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90taxon study on pairwise competition across major taxonomic groups, including experiments with vascular plants, mosses, saprobic fungi, aquatic protists and soil bacteria. We evaluated how general is competition intransitivity from the pairwise competition matrix including all species and also for each possible three\uffe2\uff80\uff90species combination (triplets). We then examined which species were likely to engage in competitive loops and the effects of environmental conditions, competitive rank and functional traits on intransitive competition.

We found some degree of competition intransitivity in all taxa studied, with 38% to 5% of triplets being intransitive. Variance in competitive rank between species and more fertile conditions strongly reduced intransitivity, with triplets composed of species differing widely in their competitive ranks much less likely to be intransitive.

Including functional traits of the species involved more than doubled the variation explained compared to models including competitive rank only. Both trait means and variance within triplets affected the odds of them being intransitive. However, the traits responsible and the direction of trait effects varied widely between taxa, suggesting that traits can have a wide variety of effects on competition.

Synthesis. We evaluated the drivers of competition across multiple taxa and showed that productivity and competitive rank are fundamental drivers of intransitivity. We also showed that not only the functional traits of each species, but also those of the accompanying species, determine competition intransitivity. Intransitive competition is common across multiple taxa but can dampen under fertile conditions or for those species with large variance in their competitive abilities. This provides a first step towards predicting the prevalence of intransitive competition in natural communities.

Grasslands face more frequent and extreme droughts; yet, their responses to increasing drought intensity are poorly understood. Increasing drought intensity likely triggers abrupt shifts (thresholds) in grassland ecosystem functioning which can implicate recovery trajectories.

Here, we determined how drought intensity affects plant productivity, and plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. We exposed model grassland plant communities with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (a fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs a slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant community), to a gradient of drought intensity. The drought gradient ranged from well\uffe2\uff80\uff90watered to severely water\uffe2\uff80\uff90limited conditions. We identified thresholds of plant community productivity (above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass) at peak drought and 2\uffe2\uff80\uff89months after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, and measured net ecosystem exchange and ecosystem respiration of C\uffc2\uffa0throughout the drought and recovery phases. At peak drought and 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89week after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, we traced recently acquired C from plants to the soil and into microbial biomass and fatty acids using 13C pulse labelling, and measured plant and soil N.

At peak drought, slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant communities were more drought resistant than fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy communities, as the threshold in plant productivity occurred at a higher drought intensity for the slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90 than the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. Shortly after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, microbial uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90assimilated C increased with increasing past drought intensity, coinciding with an increase in soil N availability and leaf N. Threshold responses to drought intensity at peak drought translated into non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear recovery responses, with greater compensatory growth in the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. At peak drought, increasing drought intensity reduced C uptake and increased relative C partitioning to leaves and microbial biomass. Upon re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, plant community strategy mediated drought intensity effects on plant and soil C and N dynamics and plant recovery trajectories. The fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community recovered quickly, with higher leaf N than the slow community, while the slow community increased C allocation to microbial biomass.

Synthesis. Our findings highlight that C and N dynamics in the plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil system display non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear responses to increasing drought intensity both during and after drought, which has implications for plant community recovery trajectories.

Plant species exert a dominant control over the nitrogen (N) cycle of natural and managed grasslands. Although in intensively managed systems that receive large external N inputs the emission of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is a crucial component of this cycle, a mechanistic relationship between plant species and N2O emissions has not yet been established. Here we use a plant functional trait approach to study the relation between plant species strategies and N2O emissions from soils. Compared to species with conservative strategies, species with acquisitive strategies have higher N uptake when there is ample N in the soil, but also trigger N mineralization when soil N is limiting. Therefore, we hypothesized that (1) compared to conservative species, species with acquisitive traits reduce N2O emissions after a high N addition; and (2) species with conservative traits have lower N2O emissions than acquisitive plants if there is no high N addition. This was tested in a greenhouse experiment using monocultures of six grass species with differing above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground traits, growing across a gradient of soil N availability. We found that acquisitive species reduced N2O emissions at all levels of N availability, produced higher biomass and showed larger N uptake. As such, acquisitive species had 87% lower N2O emissions per unit of N uptake than conservative species (p\uffc2\uffa0<\uffc2\uffa0.05). Structural equation\uffc2\uffa0modelling revealed that specific leaf area and root length density were key traits regulating the effects of plants on N2O emission and biomass productivity. These results provide the first framework to understand the mechanisms through which plants modulate N2O emissions, pointing the way to develop productive grasslands that contribute optimally to climate change mitigation.

", "keywords": ["Plant traits", "2. Zero hunger", "Air Pollutants", "Nitrous oxide", "Nitrogen", "Climate Change", "Nitrous Oxide", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Grassland", "Soil", "Species Specificity", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Fertilizers", "Plant-microbe interactions", "Functional traits"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.13827"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13827"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/gcb.13827", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.13827", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.13827"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-08-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01452.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:18:43Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-07-23", "title": "Four Years Of Simulated Climate Change Reduces Above-Ground Productivity And Alters Functional Diversity In A Grassland Ecosystem", "description": "AbstractQuestions

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?

Location

Perennial grassland in the French Massif Central.

Methods

Monoliths 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.

Results

Both 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.

Conclusions

Continuous, 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/jvs.12317", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:18:46Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2015-06-24", "title": "Large Herbivores Change The Direction Of Interactions Within Plant Communities Along A Salt Marsh Stress Gradient", "description": "AbstractQuestion

How multiple abiotic stress factors combined with herbivory affect interactions within plant communities is poorly understood. We ask how large herbivore grazing affects the direction of plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant interactions along an environmental gradient in a salt marsh.

Location

Grazed (cattle) and ungrazed salt marshes of the Dutch Wadden Sea island Schiermonnikoog. Here, patches of tall plant communities, dominated by the tough, unpalatable species Juncus maritimus Lam., are found alternating with low\uffe2\uff80\uff90statured, intensively grazed plant communities.

Methods

Along the inundation gradient, we measured plant species composition and plant species traits (specific leaf area, specific root length, maximum height and abundance) inside and outside J.\uffc2\uffa0maritimus patches in grazed and ungrazed areas. In addition, we measured soil structure parameters (bulk density, soil porosity, clay depth), multiple limiting conditions for plant growth (soil salinity, soil redox, plant canopy light interception), plant biomass, presence of herbivores and abundance of soil macro\uffe2\uff80\uff90detritivores.

Results

Under grazing, the palatable grasses Elytrigia atherica (Link) Kergu\uffc3\uffa9len and Festuca rubra L. were positively associated with J.\uffc2\uffa0maritimus, while shade\uffe2\uff80\uff90intolerant Puccinellia maritima (Huds.) Parl. and Juncus gerardii\uffc2\uffa0 Loisel. were negatively associated with this species. Furthermore, macro\uffe2\uff80\uff90detritivore presence was higher inside J.\uffc2\uffa0maritimus patches. In ungrazed areas E.\uffc2\uffa0atherica and F.\uffc2\uffa0rubra were negatively associated with J.\uffc2\uffa0maritimus, while P.\uffc2\uffa0maritima and J.\uffc2\uffa0gerardii were rare. In both grazed and ungrazed conditions the directions of species associations were independent of the inundation gradient. Analysis of species traits and abiotic conditions suggested that associational resistance (a facilitation type) was important in grazed areas. In ungrazed areas, light competition was the likely dominant process.

Conclusions

The direction of species associations within these salt marsh communities was strongly affected by grazing, not by the underlying stress gradient. Measurement of species traits indicated that plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant interactions shifted from competitive to facilitative under grazing. Besides grazing, cross\uffe2\uff80\uff90trophic facilitation of soil disturbing macro\uffe2\uff80\uff90detritivores may play an important \uffe2\uff80\uff93 thus far ignored \uffe2\uff80\uff93 role in structuring plant communities.

", "keywords": ["Plant traits", "2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "Salt marsh", "Macro-detritivores", "SUCCESSION", "Stress gradient hypothesis", "PREDICTIONS", "COMPETITION", "HALOPHYTES", "15. Life on land", "ALKALI GRASSLANDS", "FACILITATION", "01 natural sciences", "POSITIVE SPECIES INTERACTIONS", "Grazing", "Plant-plant interactions", "FUNCTIONAL TRAITS", "Trampling", "Orchestia gammarellus Pallas. 1766", "BIOTURBATION", "Facilitation", "Juncus maritimus Lam.", "VEGETATION", "Multiple stressors"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12317"}, {"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/jvs.12317", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/jvs.12317", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/jvs.12317"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-06-24T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.15161", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:18:46Z", "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.

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.Nonvascular photoautotrophs (NVP), including bryophytes, lichens, terrestrial algae, and cyanobacteria, are increasingly recognized as being essential to ecosystem functioning in many regions of the world. Current research suggests that climate change may pose a substantial threat to NVP, but the extent to which this will affect the associated ecosystem functions and services is highly uncertain. Here, we propose a research agenda to address this urgent question, focusing on physiological and ecological processes that link NVP to ecosystem functions while also taking into account the substantial taxonomic diversity across multiple ecosystem types. Accordingly, we developed a new categorization scheme, based on microclimatic gradients, which simplifies the high physiological and morphological diversity of NVP and world\uffe2\uff80\uff90wide distribution with respect to several broad habitat types. We found that habitat\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific ecosystem functions of NVP will likely be substantially affected by climate change, and more quantitative process understanding is required on: (1) potential for acclimation; (2) response to elevated CO2; (3)\uffc2\uffa0role of the microbiome; and (4) feedback to (micro)climate. We suggest an integrative approach of innovative, multimethod laboratory and field experiments and ecophysiological modelling, for which sustained scientific collaboration on NVP research will be essential. Increasing aridity due to climate change is expected to affect multiple ecosystem structural and functional attributes in global drylands, which cover \uffe2\uff88\uffbc45% of the terrestrial globe. Berdugo et al. show that increasing aridity promotes thresholds on the structure and functioning of drylands (see the Perspective by Hirota and Oliveira). Their database includes 20 variables summarizing multiple aspects and levels of ecological organization. They found evidence for a series of abrupt ecological events occurring sequentially in three phases, culminating with a shift to low-cover ecosystems that are nutrient- and species-poor at high aridity values. They estimate that more than 20% of land surface will cross at least one of the thresholds by 2100, which can potentially lead to widespread land degradation and desertification worldwide.

Science , this issue p. 787 ; see also p. 739 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": "10.25674/362", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:20:09Z", "type": "Journal Article", "title": "Soil BON Earthworm - A global initiative on earthworm distribution, traits, and spatiotemporal diversity patterns", "description": "Open AccessPeer reviewed", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "temporal dynamics", "500", "soil biodiversity", "Biodiversity", "earthworms", "time-series data", "15. Life on land", "Traits", "Microbiology", "630", "QR1-502", "[SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "QL1-991", "Ecology", " evolutionary biology", "global collaboration", "ecosystem functioning", "citizen science", "Community ecology", "functional traits", "14. Life underwater", "[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "Zoology", "community ecology", "Taxonomy"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.25674/362"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Organisms", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.25674/362", "name": "item", "description": "10.25674/362", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.25674/362"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3389/fmicb.2021.678290", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:20:16Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-07-09", "title": "Generalist Taxa Shape Fungal Community Structure in Cropping Ecosystems", "description": "

Fungi regulate nutrient cycling, decomposition, symbiosis, and pathogenicity in cropland soils. However, the relative importance of generalist and specialist taxa in structuring soil fungal community remains largely unresolved. We hypothesized that generalist fungi, which are adaptable to various environmental conditions, could potentially dominate the community and become the basis for fungal coexisting networks in cropping systems. In this study, we identified the generalist and habitat specialist fungi in cropland soils across a 2,200 kms environmental gradient, including three bioclimatic regions (subtropical, warm temperate, and temperate). A few fungal taxa in our database were classified as generalist taxa (~1%). These generalists accounted for &gt;35% of the relative abundance of all fungal populations, and most of them are Ascomycota and potentially pathotrophic. Compared to the specialist taxa (5\u201317% of all phylotypes in three regions), generalists had a higher degree of connectivity and were often identified as hub within the network. Structural equation modeling provided further evidence that after accounting for spatial and climatic/edaphic factors, generalists had larger contributions to the fungal coexistence pattern than habitat specialists. Taken together, our study provided evidence that generalist taxa are crucial components for fungal community structure. The knowledge of generalists can provide important implication for understanding the ecological preference of fungal groups in cropland systems.

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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": 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burrowing effects (i.e., high density vs low density) on the properties, nutrient stocks, and functions of coastal sediments. Data comes from studies conducted across Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America. ## Description of the data and file structure **File list:** 1. Rinehart_et_al.202X_Effectsizes CSV file containing the Hedges d effect size calculations (including the raw means, sample sizes, and standard deviations) for each extracted comparison/study from all 59 manuscripts. Additional extracted data (e.g., crab taxa, experimental conditions, habitat, burrow density) are also included for each comparison/study. 2. Rinehart_et_al.202X_Publicationbias CSV file containing the pooled standard deviation and the Hedges d effect size calculation for each comparison/study. This datafile was used to conduct analyses of publication bias for a resulting systematic meta-analysis. **Data-specific information for:** (1) Rinehart_et_al.202X_Effectsizes **Number of variables:** 47 **Number of cases/rows:** 1423 Variable List:\u00a0 1. id: the unique code assigned to each data row. 2. reference: author, year, and journal for each data source. 3. pub_year: year of reference publication. One in preparation study was included in the dataset (Rinehart et al. 20XX), it's publication year is denoted as 20XX. 4. paper id: the unique code assigned to each manuscript included in the dataset. 5. continent: the continent where the data was collected. 6. country: the country where the data was collected. 7. state: the state (united states only) where the data was collected. 8. estuary: the name of the estuary where the data was collected. 9. latitude_dd: the latitude associated with the data collected in decimal degrees (dd). 10. longitude_dd: the longitude associated with the data collected in decimal degrees (dd). 11. ecosystem: the type of ecosystem (e.g., salt marsh, mangrove forest, tidal flat) associated with the collected data. 12. vegetation: categorical variable noting the presence (vegetated) or absence (not unvegetated) of any vegetation. 13. ecosystem_type: categorical variable noting if the ecosystem was restored, created, or natural. 14. relative_salinity: categorical variable noting the relative salinity in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 15. tidal_amplitude_m: the tidal amplitude (in meters) in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 16. tidal_cycle: categorical variable noting the type of tidal cycle (e.g., diurnal) in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 17. soil_type: categorical variable noting the soil type (e.g., sand) in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 18. elevation_m: the elevation (in meters) of the ecosystem where the data was collected. 19. study_duration_d: the length of time (in days) that the study ran (applies mainly to manipulative studies). 20. study_timing: the seasons or months during which the study was run. 21. dominant_plant_genus: the genus of the dominant plant present in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 22. dominant_plant_species: the species of the dominant plant present in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 23. dominant_plant_functional_group: categorical variable noting the functional group (e.g., grass) of the dominant plant species in the ecosystem where the data was collected. 24. crab_genus: the genus of the dominant burrowing crab used in the study. Studies with mixed crab communities are denoted with by 'mixed'. 25. crab_species: the species of the dominant burrowing crab used in the study. Studies with mixed crab communities are denoted with by 'mixed'. 26. crab_diet: categorical variable noting the main feeding strategy (e.g., herbivore, detritivore) used by the dominant crab species. 27. crab_superfamily: the superfamily of the dominant burrowing crab used in the study. Studies with mixed crab communities are denoted with by 'mixed'. 28. mean_burrow_diameter_high_crab_treatment_mm: the mean burrow diameter in the study's high crab treatment in mm. 29. mean_burrow_diameter_low_crab_treatment_mm: the mean burrow diameter in the study's low crab treatment in mm. 30. mean_burrow_depth_cm: the mean burrow depth in cm reported by the study. 31. burrow_density_high_crab_m^2: the mean crab burrow density per meter-squared reported in the study's high crab treatment. 32. burrow_density_low_crab_m^2: the mean crab burrow density per meter-squared reported in the study's low crab treatment. 33. experiment_type: categorical variable noting if the study used observational or manipulative methodologies. 34. experiment_setting: categorical variable noting if the study was conducted in a laboratory or field setting. Laboratory studies also include outdoor mesocosm studies. 35. field_location: categorical variable noting where studies conducted in the field placed their study relative to the shoreline. Specifically, we noted if studied sampled in the ecosystem interior (far from shoreline) or at the ecosystem edge (adjacent to the shoreline). 36. soil_depth_cm: the depth, in cm, within the soil profile from which the sediment samples were collected. 37. soil_characteristic_measured: categorical variable identifying the specific sediment property, nutrient stock, or function that was quantified by the study. 38. soil_characteristic_units: the original units used to quantify the soil characteristic within the study. 39. mean_low_crab: the mean value of the soil characteristic measured in the low crab treatment within the study. 40. sd_low_crab: the standard deviation of the soil characteristic measured in the low crab treatment within the study. 41. n_low_crab: the sample size of the soil characteristic measured in the low crab treatment within the study. 42. mean_high_crab: the mean value of the soil characteristic measured in the high crab treatment within the study. 43. sd_high_crab: the standard deviation of the soil characteristic measured in the high crab treatment within the study. 44. n_high_crab: the sample size of the soil characteristic measured in the high crab treatment within the study. 45. crab_density: categorical variable noting if the study documented relative burrowing crab density within their study using burrow density (burrow) or counts of individuals (individuals). 46. hedges_d: the hedges d effect size calculated for the effects of burrowing crabs on the measured sediment characteristic. Hedges d values were calculated in OpenMee software (see code/software below). Positive effect sizes indicate that burrowing crabs increased the value of the sediment measurement, while negative effect sized indicate that burrowing crabs decreased the value of the sediment measurement. 47. hedges_d_var: the variation of the hedges d effect size calculated for the effects of burrowing crabs on the measured sediment characteristic. Hedges d variation values were calculated in OpenMee software (see code/software below). **Missing data codes:** na Data-specific information for: (2) Rinehart_et_al.202X_Publicationbias ***Number of variables:*** 22 ***Number of cases/rows:*** 1423 Variable List:\u00a0 1. id: the unique code assigned to each data row. 2. reference: author, year, and journal for each data source. 3. pub_year: year of reference publication. One in preparation study was included in the dataset (Rinehart et al. 20XX), it's publication year is denoted as 20XX. 4. paper id: the unique code assigned to each manuscript included in the dataset. 5. ecosystem: the type of ecosystem (e.g., salt marsh, mangrove forest, tidal flat) associated with the collected data. 6. vegetation: categorical variable noting the presence (vegetated) or absence (not unvegetated) of any vegetation. 7. crab_superfamily: the superfamily of the dominant burrowing crab used in the study. Studies with mixed crab communities are denoted with by 'mixed'. 8. burrow_density_high_crab_m^2: the mean crab burrow density per meter-squared reported in the study's high crab treatment. 9. experiment_type: categorical variable noting if the study used observational or manipulative methodologies. 10. experiment_setting: categorical variable noting if the study was conducted in a laboratory or field setting. Laboratory studies also include outdoor mesocosm studies. 11. soil_characteristic_measured: categorical variable identifying the specific sediment property, nutrient stock, or function that was quantified by the study. 12. soil_characteristic_units: the original units used to quantify the soil characteristic within the study. 13. mean_low_crab: the mean value of the soil characteristic measured in the low crab treatment within the study. 14. sd_low_crab: the standard deviation of the soil characteristic measured in the low crab treatment within the study. 15. n_low_crab: the sample size of the soil characteristic measured in the low crab treatment within the study. 16. mean_high_crab: the mean value of the soil characteristic measured in the high crab treatment within the study. 17. sd_high_crab: the standard deviation of the soil characteristic measured in the high crab treatment within the study. 18. n_high_crab: the sample size of the soil characteristic measured in the high crab treatment within the study. 19. pooled_sd: the pooled standard deviation of the high and low crab treatments for each study. 20. crab_density: categorical variable noting if the study documented relative burrowing crab density within their study using burrow density (burrow) or counts of individuals (individuals). 21. hedges_d: the hedges d effect size calculated for the effects of burrowing crabs on the measured sediment characteristic. Hedges d values were calculated in OpenMee software (see code/software below). Positive effect sizes indicate that burrowing crabs increased the value of the sediment measurement, while negative effect sized indicate that burrowing crabs decreased the value of the sediment measurement. 22. hedges_d_var: the variation of the hedges d effect size calculated for the effects of burrowing crabs on the measured sediment characteristic. Hedges d variation values were calculated in OpenMee software (see code/software below). **Missing data codes:** na ## Sharing/Access information All data are included in the provided datafiles. ## Code/Software Hedges\u2019 *d* (hereafter, *d*) effect sizes were calculated using meta-analysis using OpenMEE software (Build date: 26 July 2016; Wallace et al. 2017). Wallace, B. C., M. J. Lajeunesse, G. Dietz, I. J. Dahabreh, T. A. Trikalinos, C. H. Schmid, and J. Gurevitch. 2017. OpenMEE: Intuitive, open-source software for meta-analysis in ecology and evolutionary biology. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8:941\u2013947.", "keywords": ["coastal wetlands", "density-dependance", "bioturbation", "animal effects", "Burrowing", "functional traits", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "habitat effects", "zoogeochemistry"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Rinehart, Shelby", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kt3"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kt3", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kt3", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kt3"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2024-04-29T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrnm", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:20:59Z", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2023-10-19", "title": "Data from: Abiotic legacies mediate plant-soil feedback during early vegetation succession on rare earth element mine tailings", "description": "Open AccessAn increasing number of studies have shown how feedback interactions between plants and soil can influence primary and secondary succession. However, very little is known about the patterns and mechanisms of such plant-soil feedbacks on stressed mine tailings ecosystem, which can be severely contaminated by a range of toxic elements.\u00a0 In a two-phase plant-soil feedback experiment based on the rare earth element (REE) mine tailing soil, we investigated biotic (changes in bacterial and fungal community) and abiotic legacies (changes in chemical properties) of three pioneer grass species, and examined feedback effects of three grasses, two legumes and two woody plants with different root traits. Positive plant-soil feedback was found in Miscanthus sinensis, Paspalum thunbergii and Tephrosia candida, and neutral feedback was observed in other four plants. These effects corresponded with an increase of nutrients and total organic carbon, as well as a decrease of acidity and extractable aluminum and REEs. There were less signs of biotic changes in the conditioned tailings.\u00a0 The correlation analysis suggested a relationship between responses to soil legacies and root traits, as well as root economics spectrum. On the mine tailings, acquisitive species with higher specific root length appeared to have greater potential for positive feedback.\u00a0 Synthesis and application: Our study shows that early succession on contaminated REE mine tailings may lead to more positive plant-soil feedback than predicted based on results of non-contaminated soils, mainly due to the alleviation of abiotic stress in tailings. Therefore, the improvement of specific abiotic soil stress and the trait-based selection of acquisitive plants should be preferentially considered to promote the primary restoration of degraded land.", "keywords": ["plant-soil feedback", "primary succession", "rare earth mine waste soil", "Trait-based approach", "root functional traits", "FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences", "soil legacies", "Ecological restoration"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Zhu, Shi Chen, Liu, Wen Shen, Chen, Zi Wu, Liu, Xiao Rui, Zheng, Hong Xiang, Chen, Bo Yu, Zhi, Xin Yu, Chao, Yuanqing, Qiu, Rong Liang, Chu, Chengjin, Liu, Chong, Morel, Jean Louis, van der Ent, Antony, Tang, Ye Tao,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrnm"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrnm", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrnm", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.ht76hdrnm"}, {"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": "10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1h4", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:20:59Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: No evidence of foliar disease impact on crop root functional strategies and soil microbial communities: What does this mean for organic coffee?", "description": "Global climate change is increasing pest and pathogen pressures on plant communities, deteriorating optimal plant functioning. In plant communities, root functional trait expression and microbial communities are important indicators of plant functioning belowground, and, when confronted with pathogens aboveground, can simultaneously reflect plant defence strategies. Yet, while research is continuing to emerge on the response of root functional traits and microbial processes to pathogens aboveground, little work has investigated these interactions in tree-crops, or the role organic amendments play\u00a0in moderating these relationships.\u00a0The main objective of this study is to\u00a0disentangle the dynamic effects of pathogens and amendments on root functional traits (i.e., specific root length and area, root diameter, root length density, root nitrogen, and root carbon to nitrogen ratio) and root endophytic fungal communities. As a model, we use Coffea arabica\u00a0(coffee)\u00a0variety Caturra along a gradient of Coffee Leaf Rust \u2013 a foliar disease prominent in coffee systems \u2013 under contrasting but widespread amendment regimes in biodiverse\u00a0agroforestry systems. We found that root trait expression varies along established conservation and collaboration gradients, where fungal endophyte community composition varies significantly as a function of root traits. Belowground resource acquisition strategies do not change with foliar disease incidence, suggesting they may be decoupled. Rather, amendment regimes differentially shape root trait expression and microbial communities, where coffee plants under organic amendments, regardless of foliar disease incidence, expressed greater acquisitive traits and enhanced collaboration with symbiotic fungi. This is an important first step in disentangling the dynamic inter-relationships between plant traits, endophytes, and pathogens, generating new questions on the role of amendments in sustainable pathogen management in biodiverse agroecosystems.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "coffee (Coffea arabica)", "13. Climate action", "fungal root endophytes", "coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix)", "root functional traits", "FOS: Agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "15. Life on land", "agroforestry"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Gagliardi, Stephanie, Avelino, Jacques, Fulthorpe, Roberta, Virginio Filho, Elias de Melo, Isaac, Marney,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1h4"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1h4", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1h4", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.hqbzkh1h4"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-02-15T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph5", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:21:01Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Drivers of soil organic carbon stock during tropical forest succession", "description": "Soil organic matter contributes to productivity in terrestrial ecosystems and contains more carbon than is found in the atmosphere. Yet, there is little understanding of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration processes during tropical forest succession, particularly after land abandonment from agriculture practices. Here we used vegetation and environmental data from two large-scale surveys covering a total landscape area of 20,000 ha in Southeast Asia to investigate the effects of plant species diversity, functional trait diversity, phylogenetic diversity, aboveground biomass, and environmental factors on SOC sequestration during forest succession. We found that functional trait diversity plays an important role in determining SOC sequestration across successional trajectories. Increases in SOC carbon storage were associated with indirect positive effects of species diversity and succession age via functional trait diversity, but phylogenetic diversity and aboveground biomass showed no significant relationship with SOC stock. Furthermore, the effects of soil properties and functional trait diversity on SOC carbon storage shift across elevation. Synthesis: Our results suggest that reforestation and restoration management practices that implement a trait-based approach by combining long-lived and short-lived species (conservative and acquisitive traits) to increase plant functional diversity could enhance SOC sequestration for climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, as well as accelerate recovery of healthy soils.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "tropical forest", "FOS: Agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "15. Life on land", "forest soil", "functional diversity", "plant diversity", "swidden agriculture", "soil organic carbon", "13. Climate action", "forest succession", "functional traits", "tropical forest ecology", "soil carbon stock"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph5"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph5", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph5", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.rn8pk0ph5"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-05-26T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.sbcc2frbh", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:21:02Z", "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": "10451/49705", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:23:56Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-08-15", "title": "Nitrogen inputs may improve soil biocrusts multifunctionality in dryland ecosystems", "description": "Open AccessSoil biocrusts (communities of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, lichens, and heterotrophs living at the soil surface) are fundamental components of dryland ecosystems worldwide. There is increasing concern over the potential for increasing nitrogen (N) inputs to affect biocrusts. This is of special concern in Mediterranean Basin drylands that face the threat of increased N inputs however, the effect on biocrusts remains poorly studied. We evaluated the potential effects of increased N inputs on biocrust structure and functioning in surrounding Mediterranean shrublands in the seventh year of a N-manipulation field experiment. We tracked the N-driven changes in biotope (changes in bare soil and in the non-legume and the legume occupation areas, and the percentage of radiation intercepted by plant canopies), evaluated biocrust functional traits (based on pigments) and measured biocrust functioning in terms of C and N cycling, soil fertility (macro and micronutrients) and biodiversity, and integrated these multiple soil functions simultaneously (i.e. soil multifunctionality) Biocrust pigment concentration was significantly influenced by both plant legacy and N input. Biocrust pigments revealed a clear functional shift from: i) biocrusts dominated by photosynthetically inactive cyanobacteria that fix N and are mostly committed to photoprotection at the expense of N-containing pigments under low N inputs; into ii) biocrusts more evenly composed of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which are more photosynthetically active, but less committed to photoprotection and N fixation under exposure to increased N inputs. The N-driven functional and structural changes in biocrusts resulted in trade-offs in biocrust functioning and processes (only N fixation was affected) and an overall improvement in biocrust multifunctionality. By itself, biocrust pigment evenness accounted for ~50% of the observed variation in biocrust multifunctionality. The biocrust pigment functional approach we adopted to study the effects of increased N inputs from patchy developed anthropogenic landscapes provides novel and critical knowledge of biocrusts community and functioning, which may be used as a tool in biodiversity conservation strategies, ecosystem functions and ecological modelling.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "Biocrust functioning", "13. Climate action", "Plant species legacy", "Biological soil crusts", "Biocrust pigments", "15. Life on land", "Increased N inputs", "Pigment functional traits"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://repositorio.ulisboa.pt/bitstream/10451/49705/1/Nitrogen%20inputs%20may%20improve%20soil%20biocrusts%20multifunctionality%20in%20dryland%20ecosystems.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10451/49705"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Soil%20Biology%20and%20Biochemistry", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10451/49705", "name": "item", "description": "10451/49705", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10451/49705"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.6584980", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:22:45Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Dataset of Rainy years counteract negative effects of drought on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity: resilience in annual plant communities", "description": "Data used in the article: Rainy years counteract negative effects of drought on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity: resilience in annual plant communities Abstract 1- Climate models forecast changes in the amounts and distribution of rain, which may affect ecosystems worldwide, especially in drylands where water is already the limiting factor for plant life. Annual plant communities are common in drylands where they can complete their entire life cycle during the rainy period while avoiding the dry season. Moreover, seed dormancy allows them to disperse over time by remaining in the seed bank for long periods. However, the extent to which these communities will be able to tolerate increasing drought is uncertain. 2- We performed a five-year rainfall reduction treatment under field conditions and determined its effects on annual plant communities in a Mediterranean gypsum ecosystem. We assessed the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of these communities each year for five years. 3-The taxonomic and functional diversity decreased under the rainfall reduction treatment whereas the phylogenetic diversity increased. Moreover, the relative importance of species with drought-resistant functional designs increased in the community assemblages. However, after a rainy season with above average rainfall, all of the diversity values recovered completely even under the rainfall reduction treatment. 4- Our results provide important insights into the responses of these plant communities under a climate change scenario, where they indicate high losses of diversity during drought events but rapid recovery in milder years. Synthesis Our findings highlight the great resilience of annual plant communities in drylands, which may allow them to tolerate increased drought under the present climate change scenario.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Rain shelters", "Drought", "13. Climate action", "Gypsum soils", "Annual communities", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "Functional traits", "Mediterranean drylands", "Phylogenetic diversity"], "contacts": [{"organization": "L\u00f3pez-Rubio, Roberto, Pescador, David S., Escudero, Adri\u00e1n, S\u00e1nchez, Ana M.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6584980"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.6584980", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.6584980", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.6584980"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-05-27T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.6584981", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:22:45Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Dataset of Rainy years counteract negative effects of drought on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity: resilience in annual plant communities", "description": "Data used in the article: Rainy years counteract negative effects of drought on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity: resilience in annual plant communities Abstract 1- Climate models forecast changes in the amounts and distribution of rain, which may affect ecosystems worldwide, especially in drylands where water is already the limiting factor for plant life. Annual plant communities are common in drylands where they can complete their entire life cycle during the rainy period while avoiding the dry season. Moreover, seed dormancy allows them to disperse over time by remaining in the seed bank for long periods. However, the extent to which these communities will be able to tolerate increasing drought is uncertain. 2- We performed a five-year rainfall reduction treatment under field conditions and determined its effects on annual plant communities in a Mediterranean gypsum ecosystem. We assessed the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of these communities each year for five years. 3-The taxonomic and functional diversity decreased under the rainfall reduction treatment whereas the phylogenetic diversity increased. Moreover, the relative importance of species with drought-resistant functional designs increased in the community assemblages. However, after a rainy season with above average rainfall, all of the diversity values recovered completely even under the rainfall reduction treatment. 4- Our results provide important insights into the responses of these plant communities under a climate change scenario, where they indicate high losses of diversity during drought events but rapid recovery in milder years. Synthesis Our findings highlight the great resilience of annual plant communities in drylands, which may allow them to tolerate increased drought under the present climate change scenario.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Rain shelters", "Drought", "13. Climate action", "Gypsum soils", "Annual communities", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "Functional traits", "Mediterranean drylands", "Phylogenetic diversity"], "contacts": [{"organization": "L\u00f3pez-Rubio, Roberto, Pescador, David S., Escudero, Adri\u00e1n, S\u00e1nchez, Ana M.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6584981"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.6584981", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.6584981", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.6584981"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-05-27T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5683/SP3/PAXLVH", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:23:05Z", "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": "10045/75093", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:23:42Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-04-16", "title": "Intransitive competition is common across five major taxonomic groups and is driven by productivity, competitive rank and functional traits", "description": "Abstract

Competition can be fully hierarchical or intransitive, and this degree of hierarchy is driven by multiple factors, including environmental conditions, the functional traits of the species involved or the topology of competition networks. Studies simultaneously analysing these drivers of competition hierarchy are rare. Additionally, organisms compete either directly or via interference competition for resources or space, within a local neighbourhood or across the habitat. Therefore, the drivers of competition could change accordingly and depend on the taxa studied.

We performed the first multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90taxon study on pairwise competition across major taxonomic groups, including experiments with vascular plants, mosses, saprobic fungi, aquatic protists and soil bacteria. We evaluated how general is competition intransitivity from the pairwise competition matrix including all species and also for each possible three\uffe2\uff80\uff90species combination (triplets). We then examined which species were likely to engage in competitive loops and the effects of environmental conditions, competitive rank and functional traits on intransitive competition.

We found some degree of competition intransitivity in all taxa studied, with 38% to 5% of triplets being intransitive. Variance in competitive rank between species and more fertile conditions strongly reduced intransitivity, with triplets composed of species differing widely in their competitive ranks much less likely to be intransitive.

Including functional traits of the species involved more than doubled the variation explained compared to models including competitive rank only. Both trait means and variance within triplets affected the odds of them being intransitive. However, the traits responsible and the direction of trait effects varied widely between taxa, suggesting that traits can have a wide variety of effects on competition.

Synthesis. We evaluated the drivers of competition across multiple taxa and showed that productivity and competitive rank are fundamental drivers of intransitivity. We also showed that not only the functional traits of each species, but also those of the accompanying species, determine competition intransitivity. Intransitive competition is common across multiple taxa but can dampen under fertile conditions or for those species with large variance in their competitive abilities. This provides a first step towards predicting the prevalence of intransitive competition in natural communities.

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.Nonvascular photoautotrophs (NVP), including bryophytes, lichens, terrestrial algae, and cyanobacteria, are increasingly recognized as being essential to ecosystem functioning in many regions of the world. Current research suggests that climate change may pose a substantial threat to NVP, but the extent to which this will affect the associated ecosystem functions and services is highly uncertain. Here, we propose a research agenda to address this urgent question, focusing on physiological and ecological processes that link NVP to ecosystem functions while also taking into account the substantial taxonomic diversity across multiple ecosystem types. Accordingly, we developed a new categorization scheme, based on microclimatic gradients, which simplifies the high physiological and morphological diversity of NVP and world\uffe2\uff80\uff90wide distribution with respect to several broad habitat types. We found that habitat\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific ecosystem functions of NVP will likely be substantially affected by climate change, and more quantitative process understanding is required on: (1) potential for acclimation; (2) response to elevated CO2; (3)\uffc2\uffa0role of the microbiome; and (4) feedback to (micro)climate. We suggest an integrative approach of innovative, multimethod laboratory and field experiments and ecophysiological modelling, for which sustained scientific collaboration on NVP research will be essential.

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.

Fungi regulate nutrient cycling, decomposition, symbiosis, and pathogenicity in cropland soils. However, the relative importance of generalist and specialist taxa in structuring soil fungal community remains largely unresolved. We hypothesized that generalist fungi, which are adaptable to various environmental conditions, could potentially dominate the community and become the basis for fungal coexisting networks in cropping systems. In this study, we identified the generalist and habitat specialist fungi in cropland soils across a 2,200 kms environmental gradient, including three bioclimatic regions (subtropical, warm temperate, and temperate). A few fungal taxa in our database were classified as generalist taxa (~1%). These generalists accounted for &gt;35% of the relative abundance of all fungal populations, and most of them are Ascomycota and potentially pathotrophic. Compared to the specialist taxa (5\u201317% of all phylotypes in three regions), generalists had a higher degree of connectivity and were often identified as hub within the network. Structural equation modeling provided further evidence that after accounting for spatial and climatic/edaphic factors, generalists had larger contributions to the fungal coexistence pattern than habitat specialists. Taken together, our study provided evidence that generalist taxa are crucial components for fungal community structure. The knowledge of generalists can provide important implication for understanding the ecological preference of fungal groups in cropland systems.

", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "0303 health sciences", "500", "15. Life on land", "Microbiology", "333", "QR1-502", "niche differentiation", "3. Good health", "03 medical and health sciences", "coexistence pattern", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "cropland soil", "soil fungi", "functional traits", "community structure", "ecological network"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/1959.7/uws:62958"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Frontiers%20in%20Microbiology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "1959.7/uws:62958", "name": "item", "description": "1959.7/uws:62958", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/1959.7/uws:62958"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-07-09T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1959.7/uws:63666", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:24:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-02-14", "title": "Global ecosystem thresholds driven by aridity", "description": "Thresholds of aridity

Increasing aridity due to climate change is expected to affect multiple ecosystem structural and functional attributes in global drylands, which cover \uffe2\uff88\uffbc45% of the terrestrial globe. Berdugo et al. show that increasing aridity promotes thresholds on the structure and functioning of drylands (see the Perspective by Hirota and Oliveira). Their database includes 20 variables summarizing multiple aspects and levels of ecological organization. They found evidence for a series of abrupt ecological events occurring sequentially in three phases, culminating with a shift to low-cover ecosystems that are nutrient- and species-poor at high aridity values. They estimate that more than 20% of land surface will cross at least one of the thresholds by 2100, which can potentially lead to widespread land degradation and desertification worldwide.

Science , this issue p. 787 ; see also p. 739 Climate change exposes ecosystems to strong and rapid changes in their environmental boundary conditions mainly due to the altered temperature and precipitation patterns. It is still poorly understood how fast interlinked ecosystem processes respond to altered environmental conditions, if these responses occur gradually or suddenly when thresholds are exceeded, and if the patterns of the responses will reach a stable state. We conducted an irrigation experiment in the Pfynwald, Switzerland from 2003\uffe2\uff80\uff932018. A naturally dry Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest was irrigated with amounts that doubled natural precipitation, thus releasing the forest stand from water limitation. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative understanding on how different traits and functions of individual trees and the whole ecosystem responded to increased water availability, and how the patterns and magnitudes of these responses developed over time. We found that the response magnitude, the temporal trajectory of responses, and the length of initial lag period prior to significant response largely varied across traits. We detected rapid and stronger responses from aboveground tree traits (e.g., tree\uffe2\uff80\uff90ring width, needle length, and crown transparency) compared to belowground tree traits (e.g., fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90root biomass). The altered aboveground traits during the initial years of irrigation increased the water demand and trees adjusted by increasing root biomass during the later years of irrigation, resulting in an increased survival rate of Scots pine trees in irrigated plots. The irrigation also stimulated ecosystem\uffe2\uff80\uff90level foliar decomposition rate, fungal fruit body biomass, and regeneration abundances of broadleaved tree species. However, irrigation did not promote the regeneration of Scots pine trees, which are reported to be vulnerable to extreme droughts. Our results provide extensive evidence that tree\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and ecosystem\uffe2\uff80\uff90level responses were pervasive across a number of traits on long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term temporal scales. However, after reaching a peak, the magnitude of these responses either decreased or reached a new stable state, providing important insights into how resource alterations could change the system functioning and its boundary conditions.

Grasslands face more frequent and extreme droughts; yet, their responses to increasing drought intensity are poorly understood. Increasing drought intensity likely triggers abrupt shifts (thresholds) in grassland ecosystem functioning which can implicate recovery trajectories.

Here, we determined how drought intensity affects plant productivity, and plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. We exposed model grassland plant communities with contrasting resource acquisition strategies (a fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs a slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant community), to a gradient of drought intensity. The drought gradient ranged from well\uffe2\uff80\uff90watered to severely water\uffe2\uff80\uff90limited conditions. We identified thresholds of plant community productivity (above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground biomass) at peak drought and 2\uffe2\uff80\uff89months after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, and measured net ecosystem exchange and ecosystem respiration of C\uffc2\uffa0throughout the drought and recovery phases. At peak drought and 1\uffe2\uff80\uff89week after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, we traced recently acquired C from plants to the soil and into microbial biomass and fatty acids using 13C pulse labelling, and measured plant and soil N.

At peak drought, slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy plant communities were more drought resistant than fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy communities, as the threshold in plant productivity occurred at a higher drought intensity for the slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90 than the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. Shortly after re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, microbial uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90assimilated C increased with increasing past drought intensity, coinciding with an increase in soil N availability and leaf N. Threshold responses to drought intensity at peak drought translated into non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear recovery responses, with greater compensatory growth in the fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community. At peak drought, increasing drought intensity reduced C uptake and increased relative C partitioning to leaves and microbial biomass. Upon re\uffe2\uff80\uff90wetting, plant community strategy mediated drought intensity effects on plant and soil C and N dynamics and plant recovery trajectories. The fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90strategy community recovered quickly, with higher leaf N than the slow community, while the slow community increased C allocation to microbial biomass.

Synthesis. Our findings highlight that C and N dynamics in the plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil system display non\uffe2\uff80\uff90linear responses to increasing drought intensity both during and after drought, which has implications for plant community recovery trajectories.

Plant species exert a dominant control over the nitrogen (N) cycle of natural and managed grasslands. Although in intensively managed systems that receive large external N inputs the emission of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is a crucial component of this cycle, a mechanistic relationship between plant species and N2O emissions has not yet been established. Here we use a plant functional trait approach to study the relation between plant species strategies and N2O emissions from soils. Compared to species with conservative strategies, species with acquisitive strategies have higher N uptake when there is ample N in the soil, but also trigger N mineralization when soil N is limiting. Therefore, we hypothesized that (1) compared to conservative species, species with acquisitive traits reduce N2O emissions after a high N addition; and (2) species with conservative traits have lower N2O emissions than acquisitive plants if there is no high N addition. This was tested in a greenhouse experiment using monocultures of six grass species with differing above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground traits, growing across a gradient of soil N availability. We found that acquisitive species reduced N2O emissions at all levels of N availability, produced higher biomass and showed larger N uptake. As such, acquisitive species had 87% lower N2O emissions per unit of N uptake than conservative species (p\uffc2\uffa0<\uffc2\uffa0.05). Structural equation\uffc2\uffa0modelling revealed that specific leaf area and root length density were key traits regulating the effects of plants on N2O emission and biomass productivity. These results provide the first framework to understand the mechanisms through which plants modulate N2O emissions, pointing the way to develop productive grasslands that contribute optimally to climate change mitigation.Plant species exert a dominant control over the nitrogen (N) cycle of natural and managed grasslands. Although in intensively managed systems that receive large external N inputs the emission of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is a crucial component of this cycle, a mechanistic relationship between plant species and N2O emissions has not yet been established. Here we use a plant functional trait approach to study the relation between plant species strategies and N2O emissions from soils. Compared to species with conservative strategies, species with acquisitive strategies have higher N uptake when there is ample N in the soil, but also trigger N mineralization when soil N is limiting. Therefore, we hypothesized that (1) compared to conservative species, species with acquisitive traits reduce N2O emissions after a high N addition; and (2) species with conservative traits have lower N2O emissions than acquisitive plants if there is no high N addition. This was tested in a greenhouse experiment using monocultures of six grass species with differing above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground traits, growing across a gradient of soil N availability. We found that acquisitive species reduced N2O emissions at all levels of N availability, produced higher biomass and showed larger N uptake. As such, acquisitive species had 87% lower N2O emissions per unit of N uptake than conservative species (p\uffc2\uffa0<\uffc2\uffa0.05). Structural equation\uffc2\uffa0modelling revealed that specific leaf area and root length density were key traits regulating the effects of plants on N2O emission and biomass productivity. These results provide the first framework to understand the mechanisms through which plants modulate N2O emissions, pointing the way to develop productive grasslands that contribute optimally to climate change mitigation.

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.