title: Plant diversity drives soil microbial biomass carbon in grasslands irrespective of global environmental change factors.
abstract: Soil microbial biomass is a key determinant of carbon dynamics in the soil. Several studies have shown that soil microbial biomass significantly increases with plant species diversity, but it remains unclear whether plant species diversity can also stabilize soil microbial biomass in a changing environment. This question is particularly relevant as many global environmental change (GEC) factors, such as drought and nutrient enrichment, have been shown to reduce soil microbial biomass. Experiments with orthogonal manipulations of plant diversity and GEC factors can provide insights whether plant diversity can attenuate such detrimental effects on soil microbial biomass. Here, we present the analysis of 12 different studies with 14 unique orthogonal plant diversity × GEC manipulations in grasslands, where plant diversity and at least one GEC factor (elevated CO2 , nutrient enrichment, drought, earthworm presence, or warming) were manipulated. Our results show that higher plant diversity significantly enhances soil microbial biomass with the strongest effects in long-term field experiments. In contrast, GEC factors had inconsistent effects with only drought having a significant negative effect. Importantly, we report consistent non-significant effects for all 14 interactions between plant diversity and GEC factors, which indicates a limited potential of plant diversity to attenuate the effects of GEC factors on soil microbial biomass. We highlight that plant diversity is a major determinant of soil microbial biomass in experimental grasslands that can influence soil carbon dynamics irrespective of GEC.
authors.affiliation: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.|Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Madhav Prakash
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Ecotron - UPS 3248, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France.|CNRS, Centre Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE, UMR-5175), 1919 Route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Alexandru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Milcu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pete
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7940-2023
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manning
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pascal A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Niklaus
authors.affiliation: UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Community Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Strasse 4, 06120, Halle, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roscher
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 8JL, UK.|Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Power
authors.affiliation: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.|Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 North Cleveland Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Reich
authors.affiliation: J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tilman
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Xianlin Avenue 163, 210023, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Fuxun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Xianlin Avenue 163, 210023, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Xianlin Avenue 163, 210023, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 8JL, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.affiliation: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.|Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Nathaly Guerrero
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Annabell Nicola
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.|Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steinauer
authors.affiliation: J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strecker
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.|Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eisenhauer
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D057231:Climate Change; D055864:Droughts; D065948:Grassland; D010944:Plants; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon
keywords: biodiversity loss; carbon dynamics; drought; long-term experiments; microbial activity; plant biomass