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Biotic and Abiotic Properties Mediating Plant Diversity Effects on Soil Microbial Communities in an Experimental Grassland
Open accessAbstract
Plant diversity drives changes in the soil microbial community which may result in alterations in ecosystem functions. However, the governing factors between the composition of soil microbial communities and plant diversity are not well understood. We investigated the impact of plant diversity (plant species richness and functional group richness) and plant functional group identity on soil microbial biomass and soil microbial community structure in experimental grassland ecosystems. Total microbial biomass and community structure were determined by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis. The diversity gradient covered 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60 plant species and 1, 2, 3 and 4 plant functional groups (grasses, legumes, small herbs and tall herbs). In May 2007, soil samples were taken from experimental plots and from nearby fields and meadows. Beside soil texture, plant species richness was the main driver of soil microbial biomass. Structural equation modeling revealed that the positive plant diversity effect was mainly mediated by higher leaf area index resulting in higher soil moisture in the top soil layer. The fungal-to-bacterial biomass ratio was positively affected by plant functional group richness and negatively by the presence of legumes. Bacteria were more closely related to abiotic differences caused by plant diversity, while fungi were more affected by plant-derived organic matter inputs. We found diverse plant communities promoted faster transition of soil microbial communities typical for arable land towards grassland communities. Although some mechanisms underlying the plant diversity effect on soil microorganisms could be identified, future studies have to determine plant traits shaping soil microbial community structure. We suspect differences in root traits among different plant communities, such as root turnover rates and chemical composition of root exudates, to structure soil microbial communities.
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“First, a denser vegetation in highly diverse plant communities reduces evaporation from the topsoil, which in turn promotes higher soil microbial activity and growth 30 .”
From Plant diversity increases soil microbial activity and soil carbon storage (2015) · cites this paper as [30]
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“The F:B ratio was calculated using the molar weight of the fungal PLFA marker divided by the sum of molar weights of bacterial PLFA biomarker [40].”
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“In undisturbed ecosystems, N is usually a limiting nutrient and its abundance constrains the productivity, composition, dynamics and diversity of both plants and soil microorganisms (Vitousek et. al., 2002; Lange et al., 2014).”
BackgroundLuo, X. (2018) · Current Research in Environmental & Applied Mycology · doi:10.5943/cream/8/2/7
Oram, N. J. (2018) · doi:10.18174/417839
“For example, the presence of legumes was related to a decrease in the soil fungal: bacterial ratio in the Jena Experiment, due to a decrease in soil fungi (Habekost et al. 2008; Lange et al. 2014).”
BackgroundPlant diversity effect on soil carbon dynamics
Chen, H. Y. H. (2019)
Intraspecific plant trait variation and grassland ecosystem function
Reinelt, L. (2021) · Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) · doi:10.17635/lancaster/thesis/1433
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“We first examined the soil's pH, moisture content, and overall composition and texture as these have been shown to influence plant health and soil microbial biodiversity (Garbeva et al., 2004; Griffiths et al., 2011; Lange et al., 2014).”
Zhu, W., Zhang, W., Gu, W., Cong, X., Wu, S., Pang, Z., Peng, Y., Qiu, J., Sun, Z., & Ding, C. (2026) · Journal of soil science and plant nutrition · doi:10.1007/s42729-025-02922-x
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“…because reduced resource availability would alter microbial metabolic allocation by reducing microbial respiration more strongly than growth (Lange et al. 2014; Cui et al. 2024; Pan et al. 2024); and (ii) despite a potential increase in CUE under arid conditions, CUE would explain less SOC…”
Metadata
- Authors
- Lange, M., Habekost, M., Eisenhauer, N., Roscher, C., Bessler, H., Engels, C., Oelmann, Y., Scheu, S., Wilcke, W., Schulze, E.-D., & Gleixner, G.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
- Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE)
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- University of Bern (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Gleixner, Gerd
- ORCID
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2014-05-09
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e96182
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4015938
- OpenAlex
- W2045806593
- Cited by
- 233
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 23.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Repository KITopen (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- BORIS (University Library Bern) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- GRO (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- KITopen (cc-by)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (FOR 456)
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Keywords
- plant diversity, soil microbial communities, plant functional groups, plant species richness, soil microbial biomass, leaf area index, soil moisture, fungal to bacterial ratio, Fabaceae, plant-derived organic matter, root exudates, phospholipid fatty acids, grassland
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Chromatography, Gas, Fatty Acids, Fungi, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Models, Theoretical, Phospholipids, Plants, Soil, Soil Microbiology, Water, Plant Roots, Biomass, Biodiversity, Grassland
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