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Katarina Hedlund

Katarina Hedlund

Professor

Katarina Hedlund

Divergent composition but similar function of soil food webs of individual plants: plant species and community effects

Author

  • T. M. Bezemer
  • M. T. Fountain
  • J. M. Barea
  • S. Christensen
  • S. C. Dekker
  • H. Duyts
  • R. van Hal
  • J. A. Harvey
  • Katarina Hedlund
  • M. Maraun
  • J. Mikola
  • A. G. Mladenov
  • C. Robin
  • P. C. de Ruiter
  • S. Scheu
  • H. Setala
  • P. Smilauer
  • W. H. van der Putten
Show all

Summary, in English

Soils are extremely rich in biodiversity, and soil organisms play pivotal roles in supporting terrestrial life, but the role that individual plants and plant communities play in influencing the diversity and functioning of soil food webs remains highly debated. Plants, as primary producers and providers of resources to the soil food web, are of vital importance for the composition, structure, and functioning of soil communities. However, whether natural soil food webs that are completely open to immigration and emigration differ underneath individual plants remains unknown. In a biodiversity restoration experiment we first compared the soil nematode communities of 228 individual plants belonging to eight herbaceous species. We included grass, leguminous, and non-leguminous species. Each individual plant grew intermingled with other species, but all plant species had a different nematode community. Moreover, nematode communities were more similar when plant individuals were growing in the same as compared to different plant communities, and these effects were most apparent for the groups of bacterivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous nematodes. Subsequently, we analyzed the composition, structure, and functioning of the complete soil food webs of 58 individual plants, belonging to two of the plant species, Lotus corniculatus (Fabaceae) and Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae). We isolated and identified more than 150 taxa/groups of soil organisms. The soil community composition and structure of the entire food webs were influenced both by the species identity of the plant individual and the surrounding plant community. Unexpectedly, plant identity had the strongest effects on decomposing soil organisms, widely believed to be generalist feeders. In contrast, quantitative food web modeling showed that the composition of the plant community influenced nitrogen mineralization under individual plants, but that plant species identity did not affect nitrogen or carbon mineralization or food web stability. Hence, the composition and structure of entire soil food webs vary at the scale of individual plants and are strongly influenced by the species identity of the plant. However, the ecosystem functions these food webs provide are determined by the identity of the entire plant community.

Department/s

  • Biodiversity
  • Soil Ecology
  • BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

3027-3036

Publication/Series

Ecology

Volume

91

Issue

10

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Ecological Society of America

Topic

  • Ecology

Keywords

  • Plantago
  • microfauna
  • ecosystem function
  • biodiversity
  • food web composition
  • food web model
  • Lotus corniculatus
  • mesofauna
  • macrofauna
  • lanceolata
  • soil biota

Status

Published

Research group

  • Soil Ecology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0012-9658