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Birkhofer K, Fliessbach A, Gavín-Centol MP, Hedlund K, Ingimarsdóttir M, Jørgensen HB, Kozjek K, Meyer S, Montserrat M, Moreno SS, Laraño JM, Scheu S, Serrano-Carnero D, Truu J, Kundel D. Conventional agriculture and not drought alters relationships between soil biota and functions. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23975. [PMID: 34907218 PMCID: PMC8671559 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03276-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Soil biodiversity constitutes the biological pillars of ecosystem services provided by soils worldwide. Soil life is threatened by intense agricultural management and shifts in climatic conditions as two important global change drivers which are not often jointly studied under field conditions. We addressed the effects of experimental short-term drought over the wheat growing season on soil organisms and ecosystem functions under organic and conventional farming in a Swiss long term trial. Our results suggest that activity and community metrics are suitable indicators for drought stress while microbial communities primarily responded to agricultural practices. Importantly, we found a significant loss of multiple pairwise positive and negative relationships between soil biota and process-related variables in response to conventional farming, but not in response to experimental drought. These results suggest a considerable weakening of the contribution of soil biota to ecosystem functions under long-term conventional agriculture. Independent of the farming system, experimental and seasonal (ambient) drought conditions directly affected soil biota and activity. A higher soil water content during early and intermediate stages of the growing season and a high number of significant relationships between soil biota to ecosystem functions suggest that organic farming provides a buffer against drought effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Birkhofer
- Department of Ecology, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 6, 03046, Cottbus, Germany.
| | - Andreas Fliessbach
- Department of Soil Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 5070, Frick, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | - Katja Kozjek
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 22362, Lund, Sweden
| | - Svenja Meyer
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Animal Ecology, University of Göttingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Marta Montserrat
- Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora" - Universidad de Málaga- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Málaga, Spain
| | - Sara Sánchez Moreno
- Department of Environment and Agronomy, National Center Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jordi Moya Laraño
- Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas, EEZA-CSIC, 04120, Almería, Spain
| | - Stefan Scheu
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Animal Ecology, University of Göttingen, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
- Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Diego Serrano-Carnero
- Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora" - Universidad de Málaga- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Málaga, Spain
| | - Jaak Truu
- Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, 51010, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Dominika Kundel
- Department of Soil Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 5070, Frick, Switzerland
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
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