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Relationships between plant traits, soil properties and carbon fluxes differ between monocultures and mixed communities in temperate grassland.
De Long, Jonathan R; Jackson, Benjamin G; Wilkinson, Anna; Pritchard, William J; Oakley, Simon; Mason, Kelly E; Stephan, Jörg G; Ostle, Nicholas J; Johnson, David; Baggs, Elizabeth M; Bardgett, Richard D.
Afiliação
  • De Long JR; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences The University of Manchester Manchester UK.
  • Jackson BG; Department of Terrestrial Ecology Netherlands Institute of Ecology Wageningen The Netherlands.
  • Wilkinson A; The Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Midlothian UK.
  • Pritchard WJ; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences The University of Manchester Manchester UK.
  • Oakley S; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences The University of Manchester Manchester UK.
  • Mason KE; Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre Bailrigg UK.
  • Stephan JG; Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre Bailrigg UK.
  • Ostle NJ; Department of Ecology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden.
  • Johnson D; Lancaster Environment Centre Lancaster University Lancaster UK.
  • Baggs EM; School of Earth and Environmental Sciences The University of Manchester Manchester UK.
  • Bardgett RD; The Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Midlothian UK.
J Ecol ; 107(4): 1704-1719, 2019 Jul.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31341333
ABSTRACT
The use of plant traits to predict ecosystem functions has been gaining growing attention. Above-ground plant traits, such as leaf nitrogen (N) content and specific leaf area (SLA), have been shown to strongly relate to ecosystem productivity, respiration and nutrient cycling. Furthermore, increasing plant functional trait diversity has been suggested as a possible mechanism to increase ecosystem carbon (C) storage. However, it is uncertain whether below-ground plant traits can be predicted by above-ground traits, and if both above- and below-ground traits can be used to predict soil properties and ecosystem-level functions.Here, we used two adjacent field experiments in temperate grassland to investigate if above- and below-ground plant traits are related, and whether relationships between plant traits, soil properties and ecosystem C fluxes (i.e. ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem exchange) measured in potted monocultures could be detected in mixed field communities.We found that certain shoot traits (e.g. shoot N and C, and leaf dry matter content) were related to root traits (e.g. root N, root CN and root dry matter content) in monocultures, but such relationships were either weak or not detected in mixed communities. Some relationships between plant traits (i.e. shoot N, root N and/or shoot CN) and soil properties (i.e. inorganic N availability and microbial community structure) were similar in monocultures and mixed communities, but they were more strongly linked to shoot traits in monocultures and root traits in mixed communities. Structural equation modelling showed that above- and below-ground traits and soil properties improved predictions of ecosystem C fluxes in monocultures, but not in mixed communities on the basis of community-weighted mean traits. Synthesis. Our results from a single grassland habitat detected relationships in monocultures between above- and below-ground plant traits, and between plant traits, soil properties and ecosystem C fluxes. However, these relationships were generally weaker or different in mixed communities. Our results demonstrate that while plant traits can be used to predict certain soil properties and ecosystem functions in monocultures, they are less effective for predicting how changes in plant species composition influence ecosystem functions in mixed communities.
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Texto completo: 1 Base de dados: MEDLINE Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2019 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Base de dados: MEDLINE Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2019 Tipo de documento: Article