TY  - JOUR
A1  - Heinze, Johannes
A1  - Werner, Tony
A1  - Weber, Ewald
A1  - Rillig, Matthias C.
A1  - Joshi, Jasmin Radha
T1  - Soil biota effects on local abundances of three grass species along a land-use gradient
JF  - Oecologia
N2  - Biotic plant-soil interactions and land-use intensity are known to affect plant individual fitness as well as competitiveness and therefore plant-species abundances in communities. Therefore, a link between soil biota and land-use intensity on local abundance of plant species in grasslands can be expected. In two greenhouse experiments, we investigated the effects of soil biota from grassland sites differing in land-use intensity on three grass species that vary in local abundances along this land-use gradient. We were interested in those soil-biota effects that are associated with land-use intensity, and whether these effects act directly or indirectly. Therefore, we grew the three plant species in two separate experiments as single individuals and in mixtures and compared their performance. As single plants, all three grasses showed a similar performance with and without soil biota. In contrast, in mixtures growth of the species in response to the presence or absence of soil biota differed. This resulted in different soil-biota effects that tend to correspond with patterns of species-specific abundances in the field for two of the three species tested. Our results highlight the importance of indirect interactions between plants and soil microorganisms and suggest that combined effects of soil biota and plant-plant interactions are involved in structuring plant communities. In conclusion, our experiments suggest that soil biota may have the potential to alter effects of plant-plant interactions and therefore influence plant-species abundances and diversity in grasslands.
KW  - Biodiversity
KW  - Grassland
KW  - Land-use intensity
KW  - Community composition
KW  - Plant-soil feedback
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3336-0
SN  - 0029-8549
SN  - 1432-1939
VL  - 179
IS  - 1
SP  - 249
EP  - 259
PB  - Springer
CY  - New York
ER  -