Resprouting ability differs among plant functional groups along a soil acidification gradient in a meadow: A rhizosphere perspective

Soil acidification as a global change factor can devastatingly affect plant growth and productivity. In frequently disturbed ecosystems, plant resprouting ability strongly determines biomass reconstruction and resilience after aboveground damage. However, how plant regrowth responds to soil acidific...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Zhang, Ying, Wang, Ruzhen, Sardans, Jordi, Wang, Bin, Gu, Baitao, Li, Yanyan, Liu, Heyong, Peñuelas, Josep, Jiang, Yong
Tipo de recurso: conjunto de datos
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/284081
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/284081
http://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.jwstqjqbw
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Agricultural sciences
Plant regrowth
Plant functional group
Soil acidification
Rhizosphere effect
Nitrogen competition
Descripción
Sumario:Soil acidification as a global change factor can devastatingly affect plant growth and productivity. In frequently disturbed ecosystems, plant resprouting ability strongly determines biomass reconstruction and resilience after aboveground damage. However, how plant regrowth responds to soil acidification remains largely unknown, especially regarding the role of the rhizosphere in mediating this response. We manipulated a soil-acidification gradient via adding purified elemental sulfur powder at various rates (0-50 g S m−2 year−1) in a frequently mown meadow. Shoot regrowth of functional groups were measured after clipping and supporting roles of rhizosphere versus bulk soils were disentangled using isotope labelling along the acidification gradient. Regrowth of grasses and sedges increased while forbs decreased along the acidification gradient. The results suggest that grasses were competitors capable of taking up nutrients from both rhizosphere and bulk soils, while sedges were acid-tolerators with lower sensitivity to decreased nitrogen-mineralization rates. Forbs, as typical ruderals, were vulnerable to N competition with microbes, particularly in the rhizosphere soil. Therefore, biomass regrowth of forbs was explained more by physicochemical and biological parameters from the rhizosphere than bulk soil Synthesis. Divergent interplay between plant functional groups and rhizosphere soils was the prominent driver for biomass regrowth responding to soil acidification.