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Updated: May 30, 2025
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JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
Published on: March 21, 2025
693
Shared community history strengthens plant diversity effects on below-ground multitrophic functioning.
Angelos Amyntas1,2,3, Benoit Gauzens1,2, Marcel Ciobanu4
1Institute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.
The Journal of Animal Ecology
|January 31, 2025
Summary
Plant diversity enhances ecosystem functions over time, especially in established communities. Community history, including soil and plant interactions, is crucial for robust soil food web functions.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Soil Science
- Biodiversity Research
Background:
- Ecosystem functions, such as nutrient cycling and decomposition, are influenced by plant diversity.
- Community assembly processes, including biotic interactions and historical feedbacks, shape ecosystem functions over time.
- The role of historical contingency, particularly plant and soil community history, in modulating the plant diversity-ecosystem function relationship requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interactive effects of plant richness and community history on soil fauna trophic functions.
- To test the hypothesis that removing plant or soil community history diminishes the positive effects of plant richness on soil food web functions.
- To compare functional outcomes in mature grassland communities with those subjected to experimental removal of historical legacies.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a long-term grassland biodiversity experiment with ~20 years of plot-specific community history.
- Implemented three treatments: control (full history), removal of plant history, and removal of both plant and soil history.
- Assessed soil fauna community structure and multitrophic functions across experimental plots.
Main Results:
- The positive relationship between plant richness and below-ground multitrophic functionality was significantly stronger in communities with a shared plant and soil history.
- Experimental removal of community history weakened the link between plant diversity and soil food web functions.
- Mature, historically developed communities exhibited more robust soil community functions related to plant diversity.
Conclusions:
- Plant and soil community history are critical for the development and maintenance of strong plant diversity-ecosystem function relationships.
- Anthropogenic disturbances, such as habitat loss or altered land use, can disrupt soil community functioning not only by reducing plant species but also by interrupting historical feedbacks.
- Maintaining community history and preventing disturbances are essential for preserving soil ecosystem health and function in grasslands.
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