Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of severe droughts, but it remains unclear whether soil biotic conditioning by plant communities with varying species richness or functional group diversity moderate plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedback (PSF)\uffe2\uff80\uff94an important ecosystem process driving plant community dynamics\uffe2\uff80\uff94under altered rainfall regimes. We conducted a two\uffe2\uff80\uff90phase PSF experiment to test how plant diversity affects biotic PSF under different rainfall regimes. In Phase 1, we set up mesocosms with 15 plant assemblages composed of two grasses, two forbs and two nitrogen\uffe2\uff80\uff90fixing legumes [one, two, three, or six species from one, two, or three functional group(s)] common to the semi\uffe2\uff80\uff90arid eastern Eurasian Steppe. Mesocosms were subjected to two rainfall amounts (ambient, 50% reduction) crossed with two frequencies (ambient, 50% reduction) for a growing season (~3\uffe2\uff80\uff89months). Conditioned soil from each mesocosm was then used in Phase 2 to inoculate (7% v/v) sterilised mesocosms planted with the same species as in Phase 1 and grown for 8\uffe2\uff80\uff89weeks. Simultaneously, the same plant assemblages were grown in sterilised soil to calculate PSF based on plant biomass measured at the end of Phase 2. Feedback effects differed amongst plant assemblages, but were not significantly altered by reduced rainfall treatments within any plant assemblage. This suggests that the examined interactions between plant and soil microbial communities were resistant to simulated rainfall reductions and that increasing plant diversity did not moderate PSF under altered rainfall regimes. Moreover, increasing plant species richness or functional group diversity did not lessen the magnitude of PSF differences between ambient and reduced rainfall treatments. Collectively, these findings advance our understanding of plant diversity's potential to mitigate climate change effects on PSF, showing that in semi\uffe2\uff80\uff90arid grasslands, higher plant diversity may not moderate PSF responses to altered rainfall regimes and highlighting the importance of considering species\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific traits and interaction stability.
Drought periods are projected to become more severe and more frequent in many European regions. While effects of single strong droughts on plant and microbial carbon (C) dynamics have been studied in some detail, impacts of recurrent drought events are still little understood.
We tested whether the legacy of extreme experimental drought affects responses of plant and microbial C and nitrogen (N) turnover to further drought and rewetting. In a mountain grassland, we conducted a 13C pulse\uffe2\uff80\uff90chase experiment during a naturally occurring drought and rewetting event in plots previously exposed to experimental droughts and in ambient controls (AC). After labelling, we traced 13C below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground allocation and incorporation into soil microbes using phospholipid fatty acid biomarkers.
Drought history (DH) had no effects on the standing shoot and fine root plant biomass. However, plants with experimental DH displayed decreased shoot N concentrations and increased fine root N concentrations relative to those in AC. During the natural drought, plants with DH assimilated and allocated less 13C below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground; moreover, fine root respiration was reduced and not fuelled by fresh C compared to plants in AC.
Regardless of DH, microbial biomass remained stable during natural drought and rewetting. Although microbial communities initially differed in their composition between soils with and without DH, they responded to the natural drought and rewetting in a similar way: gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90positive bacteria increased, while fungal and gram\uffe2\uff80\uff90negative bacteria remained stable. In soils with DH, a strongly reduced uptake of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived 13C in microbial biomarkers was observed during the natural drought, pointing to a smaller fraction of active microbes or to a microbial community that is less dependent on plant C.
Synthesis. Drought history can induce changes in above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 vs. below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground plant N concentrations and affect the response of plant C turnover to further droughts and rewetting by decreasing plant C uptake and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground allocation. DH does not affect the responses of the microbial community to further droughts and rewetting, but alters microbial functioning, particularly the turnover of recent plant\uffe2\uff80\uff90derived carbon, during and after further drought periods.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "NITROGEN TURNOVER", "Biomass Allocation", "microbial community composition", "Negibacteria", "drought", "phospholipid fatty acid", "nitrogen", "Microbial community composition", "Plant\u2013Soil (Below\u2010ground) Interactions", "Recovery", "ROOT RESPIRATION", "Plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "CLIMATE EXTREMES", "C pulse labelling", "Below-ground carbon allocation", "2. Zero hunger", "106022 Mikrobiologie", "0303 health sciences", "SOIL INTERACTIONS", "below-ground carbon allocation", "C-13 pulse labelling", "Grassland", "6. Clean water", "Europe", "Phospholipid", "ORGANIC-MATTER", "Mountain Region", "Posibacteria", "DIOXIDE PULSES", "Phospholipid fatty acid", "106022 Microbiology", "Root/shoot Ratio", "Belowground Biomass", "Ecosystem Resilience", "Nitrogen", "Microbial Community", "Carbon Isotope", "Soil-vegetation Interaction", "recovery", "SUMMER DROUGHT", "03 medical and health sciences", "Rewetting", "Community Composition", "plant\u2013soil (below-ground) interactions", "WATER-STRESS", "resilience", "Drought", "Resilience", "RESILIENCE", "15. Life on land", "Turnover", "Microbial Activity", "13. Climate action", "Fatty Acid", "RESPONSES"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12593"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1365-2745.12593", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1365-2745.12593", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1365-2745.12593"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-05-24T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.3216c", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:20Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Peatland vascular plant functional types affect methane dynamics by altering microbial community structure", "description": "Open Access1. Peatlands are natural sources of atmospheric methane (CH4), an important greenhouse gas. It is established that peatland methane dynamics are controlled by both biotic and abiotic conditions, yet the interactive effect of these drivers is less studied and consequently poorly understood. 2. Climate change affects the distribution of vascular plant functional types (PFTs) in peatlands. By removing specific PFTs, we assessed their effects on peat organic matter chemistry, microbial community composition and on potential methane production (PMP) and oxidation (PMO) in two microhabitats (lawns and hummocks). 3. Whilst PFT removal only marginally altered the peat organic matter chemistry, we observed considerable changes in microbial community structure. This resulted in altered PMP and PMO. PMP was slightly lower when graminoids were removed, whilst PMO was highest in the absence of both vascular PFTs (graminoids and ericoids), but only in the hummocks. 4. Path analyses demonstrate that different plant\u2013soil interactions drive PMP and PMO in peatlands and that changes in biotic and abiotic factors can have auto-amplifying effects on current CH4 dynamics. 5. Synthesis. Changing environmental conditions will, both directly and indirectly, affect peatland processes, causing unforeseen changes in CH4 dynamics. The resilience of peatland CH4 dynamics to environmental change therefore depends on the interaction between plant community composition and microbial communities.", "keywords": ["methanotrophic communities", "Sphagnum cuspidatum", "Vaccinium oxycoccus", "Andromeda polifolia", "Sphagnum magellanicum", "Eriophorum angustifolium", "Graminoids", "Rhynchospora alba", "Sphagnum spp.", "path analysis", "mid\u2013infrared spectroscopy", "Empetrum nigrum", "Sphagnum rubellum", "CH4", "Holocene", "Ericoids", "Calluna vulgaris", "methanogenesis", "15. Life on land", "Eriophorum vaginatum", "Sphagnum\u2013dominated peatlands", "13. Climate action", "path analysis; Sphagnum magellanicum; Vaccinium oxycoccus; mid\u2013infrared spectroscopy; Graminoids; Plant\u2013soil (below-ground) interactions; Empetrum nigrum; Sphagnum spp.; Eriophorum vaginatum; Calluna vulgaris; methanotrophic communities; methanogenesis; CH4; PLFA; Sphagnum cuspidatum; Sphagnum\u2013dominated peatlands; Rhynchospora alba; Eriophorum angustifolium; Andromeda polifolia; pmoA; Ericoids; Sphagnum rubellum; Erica tetralix; Holocene", "PLFA", "pmoA", "Erica tetralix"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Robroek, Bjorn J. M., Jassey, Vincent E. J., Kox, Martine A. R., Berendsen, Roeland L., Mills, Robert T. E., C\u00e9cillon, Lauric, Puissant, J\u00e9remy, Meima\u2013Franke, Marion, Bakker, Peter A. H. M., Bodelier, Paul L. E., Meima-Franke, Marion,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3216c"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.3216c", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.3216c", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.3216c"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-04-20T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "PMC11877630", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:28:18Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2025-03-11", "title": "Higher Plant Diversity Does Not Moderate the Influence of Changing Rainfall Regimes on Plant\u2013Soil Feedback of a Semi\u2010Arid Grassland", "description": "ABSTRACTClimate change is expected to increase the frequency of severe droughts, but it remains unclear whether soil biotic conditioning by plant communities with varying species richness or functional group diversity moderate plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil feedback (PSF)\uffe2\uff80\uff94an important ecosystem process driving plant community dynamics\uffe2\uff80\uff94under altered rainfall regimes. We conducted a two\uffe2\uff80\uff90phase PSF experiment to test how plant diversity affects biotic PSF under different rainfall regimes. In Phase 1, we set up mesocosms with 15 plant assemblages composed of two grasses, two forbs and two nitrogen\uffe2\uff80\uff90fixing legumes [one, two, three, or six species from one, two, or three functional group(s)] common to the semi\uffe2\uff80\uff90arid eastern Eurasian Steppe. Mesocosms were subjected to two rainfall amounts (ambient, 50% reduction) crossed with two frequencies (ambient, 50% reduction) for a growing season (~3\uffe2\uff80\uff89months). Conditioned soil from each mesocosm was then used in Phase 2 to inoculate (7% v/v) sterilised mesocosms planted with the same species as in Phase 1 and grown for 8\uffe2\uff80\uff89weeks. Simultaneously, the same plant assemblages were grown in sterilised soil to calculate PSF based on plant biomass measured at the end of Phase 2. Feedback effects differed amongst plant assemblages, but were not significantly altered by reduced rainfall treatments within any plant assemblage. This suggests that the examined interactions between plant and soil microbial communities were resistant to simulated rainfall reductions and that increasing plant diversity did not moderate PSF under altered rainfall regimes. Moreover, increasing plant species richness or functional group diversity did not lessen the magnitude of PSF differences between ambient and reduced rainfall treatments. Collectively, these findings advance our understanding of plant diversity's potential to mitigate climate change effects on PSF, showing that in semi\uffe2\uff80\uff90arid grasslands, higher plant diversity may not moderate PSF responses to altered rainfall regimes and highlighting the importance of considering species\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific traits and interaction stability.