The measurement of soil fungal:bacterial biomass ratios as an indicator of ecosystem self-regulation in temperate meadow grasslands

Bardgett, Richard D.; McAlister, Erica

doi:10.1007/s003740050554

Cited by 372 publications

(238 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Therefore, it is rather surprising that we did not find significant differences in PLFA abundances across management treatments. However, this discrepancy could be due to differences in the time of sampling between studies: Smith et al (2003Smith et al ( , 2008 sampled in July, while we sampled in September, and PLFA abundances, and especially those of fungi, are known to be very responsive to seasonality being most abundant in spring and least in autumn (Bardgett et al, 1999). Moreover, the direction and magnitude of effects of grassland management treatments on soil microbial communities, measured using PLFA, are known to vary across seasons (Bardgett et al, 1999), and may be attributed in part to the length of time since fertiliser has been applied.…”

Section: Indirect Management Effects On C Flux and Storagementioning

confidence: 88%

“…However, this discrepancy could be due to differences in the time of sampling between studies: Smith et al (2003Smith et al ( , 2008 sampled in July, while we sampled in September, and PLFA abundances, and especially those of fungi, are known to be very responsive to seasonality being most abundant in spring and least in autumn (Bardgett et al, 1999). Moreover, the direction and magnitude of effects of grassland management treatments on soil microbial communities, measured using PLFA, are known to vary across seasons (Bardgett et al, 1999), and may be attributed in part to the length of time since fertiliser has been applied. In our study, the longer recovery time for fungi, who tend to decline rapidly in response to fertiliser N application which is done at our site in May (Donnison et al, 2000a, b;Smith et al, 2003Smith et al, , 2008, may have resulted in similar PLFA abundances of the soil microbes across treatments.…”

Section: Indirect Management Effects On C Flux and Storagementioning

confidence: 88%

“…In particular, mycorrhizal fungi are responsive to plant C assimilation and allocation to roots because of their symbiotic nature (Johnson et al, 2002;Olsson and Johnson, 2005). More generally, bacteria and fungi may differentially affect C cycling, so that ecosystem management that promotes fungi over bacteria, such as the cessation of fertiliser application (Bardgett and McAlister, 1999;Smith et al, 2008), is expected to promote soil C sequestration (Six et al, 2006;Strickland and Rousk, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rapid transfer of photosynthetic carbon through the plant-soil system in differently managed species-rich grasslands

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Plant-soil interactions are central to short-term carbon (C) cycling through the rapid transfer of recently assimilated C from plant roots to soil biota. In grassland ecosystems, changes in C cycling are likely to be influenced by land use and management that changes vegetation and the associated soil microbial communities. Here we tested whether changes in grassland vegetation composition resulting from management for plant diversity influences shortterm rates of C assimilation and transfer from plants to soil microbes. To do this, we used an in situ 13 C-CO 2 pulselabelling approach to measure differential C uptake among different plant species and the transfer of the plant-derived 13 C to key groups of soil microbiota across selected treatments of a long-term plant diversity grassland restoration experiment. Results showed that plant taxa differed markedly in the rate of 13 C assimilation and concentration: uptake was greatest and 13 C concentration declined fastest in Ranunculus repens, and assimilation was least and 13 C signature remained longest in mosses. Incorporation of recent plantderived 13 C was maximal in all microbial phosopholipid fatty acid (PLFA) markers at 24 h after labelling. The greatest incorporation of 13 C was in the PLFA 16:1ω5, a marker for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), while after 1 week most 13 C was retained in the PLFA18:2ω6,9 which is indicative of assimilation of plant-derived 13 C by saprophytic fungi. Our results of 13 C assimilation and transfer within plant species and soil microbes were consistent across management treatments. Overall, our findings suggest that plant diversity restoration management may not directly affect the C assimilation or retention of C by individual plant taxa or groups of soil microbes, it can impact on the fate of recent C byCorrespondence to: G. B. De Deyn (gerlindede@gmail.com) changing their relative abundances in the plant-soil system. Moreover, across all treatments we found that plant-derived C is rapidly transferred specifically to AMF and decomposer fungi, indicating their consistent key role in the cycling of recent plant derived C.

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Section: Indirect Management Effects On C Flux and Storagementioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Indirect Management Effects On C Flux and Storagementioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rapid transfer of photosynthetic carbon through the plant-soil system in differently managed species-rich grasslands

et al. 2011

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“…Both measures are often higher in later stages of grassland succession (e.g. Kindscher and Tieszen 1998;Bardgett and McAlister 1999), and hence reflect the species' natural habitat. In addition, we assessed correlations between survival and growth of C. jacea and various belowground environment and habitat parameters to identify those factors that best explain establishment of C. jacea across the two belowground environment and habitat types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboveground environment type, soil nutrient content and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi explain establishment success of Centaurea jacea on ex-arable land and in late-successional grasslands

2009

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We studied the relative importance of the aboveground and belowground environment for survival and growth of emerged seedlings of Centaurea jacea to better understand the general difficulty of establishing late-successional species at restoration sites on ex-arable land. Potted seedlings growing on soil from six late-successional grasslands and from six ex-arable (restoration) sites were reciprocally exchanged, and survival and relative growth rate of the seedlings monitored. In addition, we assessed aboveground herbivory and colonization of roots by arbuscular myccorhizal fungi of all plants, as well as nutrient availability, and microbial biomass and community composition using PLFA techniques in all twelve soils. Seedling survival was higher in restoration habitat and soil than in grassland habitat and soil, but growth did not differ between the aboveground and belowground environment types. Shoot growth rate was initially correlated with soil nutrient content, and later in the experiment with mycorrhizal colonization levels. Our results indicate that arbuscular mycorhizal fungi may be important for the successful establishment of C. jacea and that abiotic soil factors, like K availability and N:P ratio, can promote mycorrhizal colonization. Hence, the belowground environment should be considered when selecting sites for restoring species-rich grasslands.

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“…rapidly degrade together with their environment. Admitting the failure of the long-standing attempts to technologically maintain the stability of artificial ecological systems (see also discussion in Section 3.4), modern agricultural science recommends exploitation regimes mimicking the natural conditions as closely as possible as the only remedy able to mitigate environmental degradation (Altieri, 1991;Wardle et al, 1995;Yeates et al, 1997;Bardgett and McAlister, 1999).…”

Section: Discussion: the Need To Revise The Scientific Paradigmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revising the fundamentals of ecological knowledge: the biota–environment interaction

Gorshkov

Makarieva

Горшков

2004

Ecological Complexity

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The foundations of ecological science were laid down at those times when the problem of a possible loss of local and global environmental sustainability was not as acute as it has become today. To make sure that the proposed scientific solutions to this problem are responsible, it is useful to revise the existing frameworks of environmental thought. In this paper, we present quantitative evidence suggesting that the persistence of an environment suitable for life for any appreciable period of time is only possible as long as a substantial area on the planet's surface is occupied by natural ecosystems undisturbed by anthropogenic activities. Once the natural biotic mechanism of environmental control is destroyed, both local and global environment rapidly (over a time scale of hundreds of years) degrade to a state unfit for life, even if any direct anthropogenic environmental impact like industrial pollution is absent. It is therefore important to quantitatively assess the stabilizing impact of natural ecosystems and to determine the necessary and sufficient global area that must be exempted from anthropogenic activities and let be occupied by natural ecosystems, so that the latter have power enough to sustain the global environment in a stable life-compatible state. This urgent scientific task emerges as the major challenge for modern ecological science. We discuss how the proposed conceptual approach to the biota-environment interaction relates to the important paradigms of biological theory.

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The measurement of soil fungal:bacterial biomass ratios as an indicator of ecosystem self-regulation in temperate meadow grasslands

Cited by 372 publications

References 21 publications

Rapid transfer of photosynthetic carbon through the plant-soil system in differently managed species-rich grasslands

Rapid transfer of photosynthetic carbon through the plant-soil system in differently managed species-rich grasslands

Aboveground environment type, soil nutrient content and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi explain establishment success of Centaurea jacea on ex-arable land and in late-successional grasslands

Revising the fundamentals of ecological knowledge: the biota–environment interaction

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