Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Additive and interactive effects of functionally dissimilar soil organisms on a grassland plant community

Ladygina, Natalia LU ; Henry, Frederic ; Kant, Merijn R. ; Koller, Robert ; Reidinger, Stefan ; Rodriguez, Alia ; Saj, Stephane ; Sonnemann, Ilja ; Witt, Christina and Wurst, Susanne (2010) In Soil Biology & Biochemistry 42(12). p.2266-2275
Abstract
The productivity and diversity of plant communities are affected by soil organisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), root herbivores and decomposers. However, it is unknown how interactions between such functionally dissimilar soil organisms affect plant communities and whether the combined effects are additive or interactive. In a greenhouse experiment we investigated the individual and combined effects of AMF (five Glomus species), root herbivores (wireworms and nematodes) and decomposers (collembolans and enchytraeids) on the productivity and nutrient content of a model grassland plant community as well as on soil microbial biomass and community structure. The effects of the soil organisms on productivity (total plant... (More)
The productivity and diversity of plant communities are affected by soil organisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), root herbivores and decomposers. However, it is unknown how interactions between such functionally dissimilar soil organisms affect plant communities and whether the combined effects are additive or interactive. In a greenhouse experiment we investigated the individual and combined effects of AMF (five Glomus species), root herbivores (wireworms and nematodes) and decomposers (collembolans and enchytraeids) on the productivity and nutrient content of a model grassland plant community as well as on soil microbial biomass and community structure. The effects of the soil organisms on productivity (total plant biomass), total root biomass, grass and forb biomass, and nutrient uptake of the plant community were additive. AMF decreased, decomposers increased and root herbivores had no effect on productivity, but in combination the additive effects canceled each other out. AMF reduced total root biomass by 18%, but decomposers increased it by 25%, leading to no net effect on total root biomass in the combined treatments. Total shoot biomass was reduced by 14% by root herbivores and affected by an interaction between AMF and decomposers where decomposers had a positive impact on shoot growth only in presence of AMF. AMF increased the shoot biomass of forbs, but reduced the shoot biomass of grasses, while root herbivores only reduced the shoot biomass of grasses. Interactive effects of the soil organisms were detected on the shoot biomasses of Lotus corniculatus, Plantago lanceolata, and Agrostis capillaris. The C/N ratio of the plant community was affected by AMF. In soil, AMF promoted abundances of bacterial, actinomycete, saprophytic and AMF fatty acid markers. Decomposers alone decreased bacterial and actinomycete fatty acids abundances but when decomposers were interacting with herbivores those abundances were increased. Our results suggests that at higher resolutions, i.e. on the levels of individual plant species and the microbial community, interactive effects are common but do not affect the overall productivity and nutrient uptake of a grassland plant community, which is mainly affected by additive effects of functionally dissimilar soil organisms. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
groups, Functional, Plant biomass, Collembolans, Nematodes, AMF, Wireworms, PLFA, Microbial community, C/N content
in
Soil Biology & Biochemistry
volume
42
issue
12
pages
2266 - 2275
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000284294600026
  • scopus:78650207279
ISSN
0038-0717
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.08.027
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Chemical Ecology/Ecotoxicology (Closed 2011) (011006020)
id
71674376-296b-47c0-807d-668d254355b4 (old id 1752002)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:05:03
date last changed
2022-04-13 23:07:36
@article{71674376-296b-47c0-807d-668d254355b4,
  abstract     = {{The productivity and diversity of plant communities are affected by soil organisms such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), root herbivores and decomposers. However, it is unknown how interactions between such functionally dissimilar soil organisms affect plant communities and whether the combined effects are additive or interactive. In a greenhouse experiment we investigated the individual and combined effects of AMF (five Glomus species), root herbivores (wireworms and nematodes) and decomposers (collembolans and enchytraeids) on the productivity and nutrient content of a model grassland plant community as well as on soil microbial biomass and community structure. The effects of the soil organisms on productivity (total plant biomass), total root biomass, grass and forb biomass, and nutrient uptake of the plant community were additive. AMF decreased, decomposers increased and root herbivores had no effect on productivity, but in combination the additive effects canceled each other out. AMF reduced total root biomass by 18%, but decomposers increased it by 25%, leading to no net effect on total root biomass in the combined treatments. Total shoot biomass was reduced by 14% by root herbivores and affected by an interaction between AMF and decomposers where decomposers had a positive impact on shoot growth only in presence of AMF. AMF increased the shoot biomass of forbs, but reduced the shoot biomass of grasses, while root herbivores only reduced the shoot biomass of grasses. Interactive effects of the soil organisms were detected on the shoot biomasses of Lotus corniculatus, Plantago lanceolata, and Agrostis capillaris. The C/N ratio of the plant community was affected by AMF. In soil, AMF promoted abundances of bacterial, actinomycete, saprophytic and AMF fatty acid markers. Decomposers alone decreased bacterial and actinomycete fatty acids abundances but when decomposers were interacting with herbivores those abundances were increased. Our results suggests that at higher resolutions, i.e. on the levels of individual plant species and the microbial community, interactive effects are common but do not affect the overall productivity and nutrient uptake of a grassland plant community, which is mainly affected by additive effects of functionally dissimilar soil organisms. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Ladygina, Natalia and Henry, Frederic and Kant, Merijn R. and Koller, Robert and Reidinger, Stefan and Rodriguez, Alia and Saj, Stephane and Sonnemann, Ilja and Witt, Christina and Wurst, Susanne}},
  issn         = {{0038-0717}},
  keywords     = {{groups; Functional; Plant biomass; Collembolans; Nematodes; AMF; Wireworms; PLFA; Microbial community; C/N content}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{2266--2275}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Soil Biology & Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{Additive and interactive effects of functionally dissimilar soil organisms on a grassland plant community}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.08.027}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.08.027}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}