Dataset Information

Trophic level and basal resource use of soil animals are hardly affected by local plant associations in abandoned arable land.

ABSTRACT: Plants provide resources and shape the habitat of soil organisms thereby affecting the composition and functioning of soil communities. Effects of plants on soil communities are largely taxon-dependent, but how different functional groups of herbaceous plants affect trophic niches of individual animal species in soil needs further investigation. Here, we studied the use of basal resources and trophic levels of dominating soil meso- and macrofauna using stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in arable fallow systems 3 and 14-16 years after abandonment. Animals were sampled from the rhizosphere of three plant species of different functional groups: a legume (Medicaco sativa), a nonlegume herb (Taraxacum officinale), and a grass (Bromus sterilis). We found virtually no consistent effects of plant identity on stable isotope composition of soil animals and on thirteen isotopic metrics that reflect general food-web structure. However, in old fallows, the carbon isotope composition of some predatory macrofauna taxa had shifted closer to that of co-occurring plants, which was particularly evident for Lasius, an aphid-associated ant genus. Trophic levels and trophic-chain lengths in food webs were similar across plant species and fallow ages. Overall, the results suggest that variations in local plant diversity of grassland communities may little affect the basal resources and the trophic level of prey consumed by individual species of meso- and macrofauna belowground. By contrast, successional changes in grassland communities are associated with shifts in the trophic niches of certain species, reflecting establishment of trophic interactions with time, which shapes the functioning and stability of soil food webs.

SUBMITTER: Salamon JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7417231 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Trophic level and basal resource use of soil animals are hardly affected by local plant associations in abandoned arable land.

Salamon Jörg-Alfred JA Wissuwa Janet J Frank Thomas T Scheu Stefan S Potapov Anton M AM

Ecology and evolution 20200707 15

Plants provide resources and shape the habitat of soil organisms thereby affecting the composition and functioning of soil communities. Effects of plants on soil communities are largely taxon-dependent, but how different functional groups of herbaceous plants affect trophic niches of individual animal species in soil needs further investigation. Here, we studied the use of basal resources and trophic levels of dominating soil meso- and macrofauna using stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitroge ...[more]

PMID: 32788978

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Project description:While soil microbial ecology, soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil physical quality are widely understood to be interrelated - the underlying drivers of emergent properties, from land management to biochemistry, are hotly debated. Biological binding agents, microbial exudates, or 'extracellular polymeric substances' (EPS) in soil are now receiving increased attention due to several of the existing methodological challenges having been overcome. We applied a recently developed approach to quantify soil EPS, as extracellular protein and extracellular polysaccharide, on the well-characterised soils of the Highfield Experiment, Rothamsted Research, UK. Our aim was to investigate the links between agricultural land use, SOC, transient binding agents known as EPS, and their impacts on soil physical quality (given by mean weight diameter of water stable aggregates; MWD). We compared the legacy effects from long-term previous land-uses (unfertilised grassland, fertilised arable, and fallow) which were established > 50 years prior to investigation, crossed with the same current land-uses established for a duration of only 2.5 years prior to sampling. Continuously fallow and grassland soils represented the poorest and greatest states of structural integrity, respectively. Total SOC and N were found to be affected by both previous and current land-uses, while extractable EPS and MWD were driven primarily by the current land-use. Land-use change between these two extremes (fallow → grass; grass → fallow) resulted in smaller SOC differences (64% increase or 37% loss) compared to MWD (125% increase or 78% loss). SOC concentration correlated well to MWD (adjusted R 2 = 0.72) but the greater SOC content from previous grassland was not found to contribute directly to the current stability (p < 0.05). Our work thus supports the view that certain distinct components of SOC, rather than the total pool, have disproportionately important effects on a soil's structural stability. EPS-protein was more closely related to aggregate stability than EPS-polysaccharide (p values of 0.002 and 0.027, respectively), and ranking soils with the 5 greatest concentrations of EPS-protein to their corresponding orders of stability (MWD) resulted in a perfect match. We confirmed that both EPS-protein and EPS-polysaccharide were transient fractions: supporting the founding models for aggregate formation. We suggest that management of transient binding agents such as EPS -as opposed to simply increasing the total SOC content- may be a more feasible strategy to improve soil structural integrity and help achieve environmental objectives.

Project description:The sequestration in soil of organic carbon (SOC) derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by replacing arable crops with leys, has been measured over 70?years on a sandy loam soil. The experiment was designed initially to test the effect of leys on the yields of arable crops. A 3-year grazed grass with clover (grass?+?clover) ley in a 5-year rotation with arable crops increased percentage organic carbon (%OC) in the top 25?cm of the soil from 0.98 to 1.23 in 28?years, but with little further increase during the next 40?years with all-grass leys given fertilizer nitrogen (N). In this second period, OC inputs were balanced by losses, suggesting that about 1.3% OC might be near the equilibrium content for this rotation. Including 3-year lucerne (Medicago sativa) leys had little effect on %OC over 28?years, but after changing to grass?+?clover leys, %OC increased to 1.24 during the next 40?years. Eight-year leys (all grass with N or grass?+?clover) in 10-year rotations with arable crops were started in the 1970s, and after three rotations %OC had increased to ca. 1.40 in 2000-2009. Over 70?years, %OC declined from 0.98 to 0.94 in an all-arable rotation with mainly cereals and to 0.82 with more root crops. Applications of 38?t?ha-1 farmyard manure (FYM) every fifth year increased %OC by 0.13% by the mid-1960s when applications ceased. Soil treated with FYM still contained 0.10% more OC in 2000-2009. Changes in the amount of OC have been modelled with RothC-26.3 and estimated inputs of C for selected rotations. Little of the OC input during the 70?years has been retained; most was retained in the grazed ley rotation, but 9?t?ha-1 only of a total input of 189?t?ha-1. In other rotations more than 98% of the total OC input was lost. Despite large losses of C, annual increases in OC of 4‰ are possible on this soil type with the inclusion of grass or grass?+?clover leys or the application of FYM, but only for a limited period. Such increases in SOC might help to limit increases in atmospheric CO2.HighlightsCan leys sequester significant amounts of atmospheric CO 2 in SOM and contribute to the 4‰ initiative?Changes in the percentage and amount of OC were measured and modelled over 70?years and OC losses estimated.Three-year grass or grass?+?clover leys increased %OC, but only to an equilibrium level that was then maintained.Despite large losses, sequestering CO 2-C at 4‰?year-1 by growing grass or grass?+?clover leys is possible.

Dataset Information

Trophic level and basal resource use of soil animals are hardly affected by local plant associations in abandoned arable land.

Publications

Trophic level and basal resource use of soil animals are hardly affected by local plant associations in abandoned arable land.

Similar Datasets

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