Competition drives the response of soil microbial diversity to increased grazing by vertebrate herbivores

Eldridge, David J.; Delgado‐Baquerizo, Manuel; Travers, Samantha K.; Val, James; Oliver, Ian; Hamonts, Kelly; Singh, Brajesh K.

doi:10.1002/ecy.1879

Cited by 102 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Also, CW-VH had a positive significant relationship with organic carbon (χ 2 = 32.61; p =< 0.001), possibly because of increased amounts of litter material. We propose that this process could be related to the competitive exclusion principle; that is, increases in the abundance of some species result in decreases or even extinction of others (Eldridge et al, 2017). However, other studies showed a positive relationship with total abundance of bacterial communities, but negative with diversity of soil bacteria, at least in soils with enough carbon content .…”

Section: Cascading Effects Of Plant Species Richness and Climate Chmentioning

confidence: 84%

Cascading effects from plants to soil microorganisms explain how plant species richness and simulated climate change affect soil multifunctionality

Valencia

Gross

Quero

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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Despite their importance, how plant communities and soil microorganisms interact to determine the capacity of ecosystems to provide multiple functions simultaneously (multifunctionality) under climate change is poorly known. We conducted a common garden experiment using grassland species to evaluate how plant functional structure and soil microbial (bacteria and protists) diversity and abundance regulate soil multifunctionality responses to joint changes in plant species richness (one, three and six species) and simulated climate change (3°C warming and 35% rainfall reduction). The effects of species richness and climate on soil multifunctionality were indirectly driven via changes in plant functional structure and their relationships with the abundance and diversity of soil bacteria and protists. More specifically, warming selected for the larger and most productive plant species, increasing the average size within communities and leading to reductions in functional plant diversity. These changes increased the total abundance of bacteria that, in turn, increased that of protists, ultimately promoting soil multifunctionality. Our work suggests that cascading effects between plant functional traits and the abundance of multitrophic soil organisms largely regulate the response of soil multifunctionality to simulated climate change, and ultimately provides novel experimental insights into the mechanisms underlying the effects of biodiversity and climate change on ecosystem functioning.

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Section: Cascading Effects Of Plant Species Richness and Climate Chmentioning

confidence: 84%

Cascading effects from plants to soil microorganisms explain how plant species richness and simulated climate change affect soil multifunctionality

Valencia

Gross

Quero

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our SEM results indicate that plant cover had a strong negative effect on the diversity of bacteria and/or fungi in both Australia and England. More specifically, our results suggest that increases in percentage plant cover might lead to the exclusion of microbial species via the competition‐to‐exclusion principle (Eldridge et al ., ). In addition, unlike Australia, in England, plant leaf N content (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Plant attributes explain the distribution of soil microbial communities in two contrasting regions of the globe

et al. 2018

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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.

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“…Other published meta‐analyses revealed that light grazing practices had no effect on soil microbial community, but heavy grazing significantly reduced the size of microbial community (Zhao et al, ). Grazing has a significant effect on the composition of soil microbial biodiversity (Chávez, Escobar, Anghinoni, de Faccio Carvalho, & Meurer, ; Eldridge et al, ), which is particularly significant in arid northwestern China. For example, in the dry steppe of the Loess Plateau, grazing exclusion for 20 years significantly increased microbial biomass in the 0‐ to 10‐cm layer compared with continuous grazing (Cheng et al, ).…”

Section: Grazing Exclusion and Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other published meta-analyses revealed that light grazing practices had no effect on soil microbial community, but heavy grazing significantly reduced the size of microbial community . Grazing has a significant effect on the composition of soil microbial biodiversity (Chávez, Escobar, Anghinoni, de Faccio Carvalho, & Meurer, 2011;Eldridge et al, 2017), which is particularly significant in arid northwestern…”

Section: Soil Biological Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing exclusion—An effective approach for naturally restoring degraded grasslands in Northern China

et al. 2018

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Nearly 90% of the 390 million ha of grasslands in northern China are degraded. ‘Grazing exclusion’ has been implemented as a nature‐based solution to rejuvenate degraded grasslands, but the effectiveness of the rejuvenation processes is uncertain. Here, we investigated the effects of grazing exclusion on aboveground plant community traits, soil physiochemical and biological properties, and the mechanisms responsible for enhanced grassland rejuvenation. A meta‐analysis across various studies was used to assess the effectiveness. On average, grazing exclusion improved vegetation coverage by 18.5 percentage points and increased aboveground biomass by 1.13 t ha−1 and root biomass by 1.27 t ha−1, which represent an increase of 84%, 246%, and 31%, respectively, compared with continuous grazing practices. Grazing exclusion reduced soil bulk density by 13.7% and increased soil water content by 68.9%. Grasslands under grazing exclusion increased soil organic carbon (SOC) in the 0‐ to 15‐cm depth by 3.95 (±0.35 Std err) t ha−1 and total soil N, available N, and total soil P in the 0‐ to 40‐cm depth by 2.39 (±0.14), 0.83 (±0.37), and 1.96 (±0.44) t ha−1, respectively, compared with continuous grazing; these values represent an increase of 31%, 25%, 23%, and 14%, respectively. Prolonging the duration (years) of grazing practices enlarged the differences in SOC and soil N content between grazing exclusion and continuous grazing. Grazing exclusion has improved plant community traits and enhanced soil physiochemical and biological properties of degraded grasslands, and thus, this ‘nature‐based’ approach can serve as an effective means to rejuvenate degraded grasslands.

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Competition drives the response of soil microbial diversity to increased grazing by vertebrate herbivores

Cited by 102 publications

References 67 publications

Cascading effects from plants to soil microorganisms explain how plant species richness and simulated climate change affect soil multifunctionality

Cascading effects from plants to soil microorganisms explain how plant species richness and simulated climate change affect soil multifunctionality

Plant attributes explain the distribution of soil microbial communities in two contrasting regions of the globe

Grazing exclusion—An effective approach for naturally restoring degraded grasslands in Northern China

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