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Intensive grassland management disrupts below-ground multi-trophic resource transfer in response to drought

Chomel, Mathilde; Lavallee, Jocelyn M.; Alvarez-Segura, Nil; Baggs, Elizabeth M.; Caruso, Tancredi; de Castro, Francisco; Emmerson, Mark C.; Magilton, Matthew; Rhymes, Jennifer M.; de Vries, Franciska T.; Johnson, David and Bardgett, Richard D. (2022) Intensive grassland management disrupts below-ground multi-trophic resource transfer in response to drought. Nature Communications, 13 (1), pp. 1-12.

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Summary

Modification of soil food webs by land management may alter the response of ecosystem processes to climate extremes, but empirical support is limited and the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here we quantify how grassland management modifies the transfer of recent photosynthates and soil nitrogen through plants and soil food webs during a post-drought period in a controlled field experiment, using in situ 13C and 15N pulse-labelling in intensively and extensively managed fields. We show that intensive management decrease plant carbon (C) capture and its transfer through components of food webs and soil respiration compared to extensive management. We observe a legacy effect of drought on C transfer pathways mainly in intensively managed grasslands, by increasing plant C assimilation and 13C released as soil CO2 efflux but decreasing its transfer to roots, bacteria and Collembola. Our work provides insight into the interactive effects of grassland management and drought on C transfer pathways, and highlights that capture and rapid transfer of photosynthates through multi-trophic networks are key for maintaining grassland resistance to drought.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:grassland, plant-soil interaction, pulse-labelling, root-derived C, Collembola, Acari, microorganisms, soil biodiversity, stable isotope
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
plant soil relations
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_16146
English
soil fauna
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7169
English
carbon cycle
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_17299
English
grassland management
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3364
English
isotope labelling
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3971
English
nitrogen cycle
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_27938
Subjects: Soil > Soil quality > Soil biology
Environmental aspects > Biodiversity and ecosystem services
Farming Systems > Farm nutrient management
Research affiliation: France > FiBL France
UK > Other organizations
ISSN:2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-022-34449-5
Deposited By: Chomel, Dr Mathilde
ID Code:44699
Deposited On:06 Dec 2022 08:49
Last Modified:06 Dec 2022 08:49
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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