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.040jp22", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:18Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Plant economic strategies of grassland species control soil carbon dynamics through rhizodeposition", "description": "unspecified1. The plant economics spectrum is increasingly recognized as a major determinant of plant species effects on terrestrial ecosystem functioning related to carbon cycling. However, the role of plant economic strategies in the effects of living root activity on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics through rhizodeposition remains unexplored, despite SOC being the largest terrestrial carbon pool. 2. Using a continuous 13C-labeling method allowing partitioning of plant and soil sources to carbon fluxes and pools, we studied here the linkages between plant economic strategies and SOC cycling processes in a \u2018common garden\u2019 greenhouse experiment. It includes a panel of 12 grassland species selected along a gradient of economic traits and belonging to three functionnal groups (C3 grasses, forbs and legumes). 3. All species induced an acceleration of native SOC mineralization but this rhizosphere priming effect (RPE) substantially differed across species and varied eleven-fold by the end of the experiment (from +26 to +295 % relative to unplanted soil). Interspecific variation in RPE was primarily linked to plant photosynthetic activity associated to species economic strategies of light and CO2 resource acquisition and processing. Fast-growing acquisitive species, such as legumes, featured large RPE, in relation with their high canopy photosynthesis coupled to high leaf photosynthetic capacity and large net primary productivity allocated aboveground. This large RPE was further associated with high root metabolic activity, rhizodeposition and soil microbial activity. In contrast, fine-root growth and economic traits related to soil resource foraging ability were poor predictors of RPE. 4. The formation of new root-derived SOC varied nine-fold across species and was similarly positively related to the net primary productivity allocated aboveground. Fast-growing acquisitive species with a high photosynthetic activity induced a disproportionately large RPE relative to SOC formation. 5. Synthesis. Overall, our study demonstrates that rhizodeposition is a major mechanism through which plant economic strategies of grassland species control soil carbon dynamics. Acquisitive versus conservative species were associated with high versus low rates of photosynthesis and rhizodeposition, in turn leading to fast versus slow SOC turnover. This emphasizes the importance of considering rhizosphere processes for understanding plant species effects on soil biogeochemistry.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Chamerion angustifolium", "Nardus stricta", "plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "Festuca rubra", "Melilotus albus", "15. Life on land", "Rumex acetosa", "rhizosphere processes", "plant economics spectrum", "leaf and root traits", "Vicia cracca", "Lotus corniculatus", "Plantago lanceolata", "Taraxacum officinale", "Poa trivialis", "Photosynthesis", "Anthoxanthum odoratum", "Rhizosphere priming effect"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Henneron, Ludovic, Cros, Camille, Picon-Cochard, Catherine, Rahimian, Vida, Fontaine, S\u00e9bastien,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.040jp22"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.040jp22", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.040jp22", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.040jp22"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.0m9n57k", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:19Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: The effect of drought and season on root life span in temperate arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal tree species", "description": "unspecifiedLiese_etal_morphological_and_functional_traitsBelowground and aboveground morphological and functional traitsLiese_etal_lifespan_and_proportional_hazardsRoot lifespan and data for the calculation of proportional hazards", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Ectomycorrhiza", "plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "mini-rhizotrons", "deciduous tree species", "arbuscular mycorrhiza", "Season", "15. Life on land", "root morphology", "6. Clean water"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Liese, Rebecca, Leuschner, Christoph, Meier, Ina Christin,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0m9n57k"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.0m9n57k", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.0m9n57k", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.0m9n57k"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-05-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.3nf8b", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-07-26T16:21:20Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Exploiting mycorrhizas in broad daylight: partial mycoheterotrophy is a common nutritional strategy in meadow orchids.", "description": "unspecifiedStable isotope and nitrogen concentration dataSingle and mean \u03b415N, \u03b413C, \u03b42H, \u03b418O values, enrichment factors \u03b515N, \u03b513C, \u03b52H, \u03b518O and total nitrogen concentration data of 17 Orchidaceae species and 34 autotrophic reference species.JEcol-2017-0083_data.xlsx", "keywords": ["Neottia cordata", "Neotinea ustulata", "plant-soil (below-ground) interactions", "Traunsteinera globosa", "Liparis loeselii", "orchid mycorrhiza", "Herminium monorchis", "Cephalanthera rubra", "Neottia nidus-avis", "15. Life on land", "Dactylorhiza majalis", "Carbon", "Gymnadenia nigra", "Rhizoctonia", "Platanthera bifolia", "Gymnadenia conopsea", "Malaxis monophyllos", "Dactylorhiza viridis", "Spiranthes aestivalis", "Dactylorhiza incarnata", "Pseudorchis albida", "Epipactis helleborine", "Orchidaceae", "Symbiosis", "Hydrogen"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Schiebold, Julienne M.I., Bidartondo, Martin I., Lenhard, Florian, Makiola, Andreas, Gebauer, Gerhard, Schiebold, Julienne M.-I.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3nf8b"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.3nf8b", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.3nf8b", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.3nf8b"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-06-21T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=plant-soil+%28below-ground%29+interactions&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=plant-soil+%28below-ground%29+interactions&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=plant-soil+%28below-ground%29+interactions&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=plant-soil+%28below-ground%29+interactions&offset=4", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 4, "numberReturned": 4, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-07-27T15:01:30.719709Z"}