Climate change effects on plant-soil feedbacks and consequences for biodiversity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems

Abstract

Plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) are interactions among plants, soil organisms, and abiotic soil conditions that influence plant performance, plant species diversity, and community structure, ultimately driving ecosystem processes. We review how climate change will alter PSFs and their potential consequences for ecosystem functioning. Climate change influences PSFs through the performance of interacting species and altered community composition resulting from changes in species distributions. Climate change thus affects plant inputs into the soil subsystem via litter and rhizodeposits and alters the composition of the living plant roots with which mutualistic symbionts, decomposers, and their natural enemies interact. Many of these plant-soil interactions are species-specific and are greatly affected by temperature, moisture, and other climate-related factors. We make a number of predictions concerning climate change effects on PSFs and consequences for vegetation-soil-climate feedbacks while acknowledging that they may be context-dependent, spatially heterogeneous, and temporally variable. Climate change effects on plant-soil feedbacks and consequences for biodiversity and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.

Successional trajectory of bacterial communities in soil are shaped by plant-driven changes during secondary succession

“…Here, we evaluated potential role of the growth of nitrogen-fixing tree species as a major driver of changes in bacterial community composition and diversity during ecosystem succession. It is reported that faster growing plant species which typically dominates during early-succession is associated with bacteria dominated food webs 27,28 . Bacteria dominated food-webs positively influence plant growth via faster rates of decomposition and nutrient cycling.…”

Ozone affects plant, insect, and soil microbial communities: A threat to terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity

“…An extensive body of literature addresses the interactions between plants and biotic and abiotic soil properties, known as PSFs (4). The effect of increasing atmospheric concentrations of O 3 on these interactions, however, has rarely been studied (10,13).…”

“…Plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) likewise involve interactions among plants, soil microbiota, and abiotic factors, affecting structural and functional features at different scales of biological organization. These effects allow plants to readily respond to environmental changes and mediate ecosystem processes (4). Trophic interactions depend on environmental conditions, so changes in the environment may affect biodiversity and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems (2,4,5).…”

“…These effects allow plants to readily respond to environmental changes and mediate ecosystem processes (4). Trophic interactions depend on environmental conditions, so changes in the environment may affect biodiversity and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems (2,4,5).…”

Synthetic Biology for Terraformation Lessons from Mars, Earth, and the Microbiome

“…Such accumulation of proofs around the same aridity levels focus the attention on the vulnerability of dryland soils to aridity increases that may attain a drastic soil disruption under ongoing climate change [130]. At the least, if these abrupt changes in soil functioning scale through community mechanisms (e.g., facilitation and micro-environment creation), they may promote vast community changes, e.g., shrub invasions in a phenomenon called shrub encroachment [131].…”