Land use in mountain grasslands alters drought response and recovery of carbon allocation and plant-microbial interactions.

ABSTRACT: Mountain grasslands have recently been exposed to substantial changes in land use and climate and in the near future will likely face an increased frequency of extreme droughts. To date, how the drought responses of carbon (C) allocation, a key process in the C cycle, are affected by land-use changes in mountain grassland is not known.We performed an experimental summer drought on an abandoned grassland and a traditionally managed hay meadow and traced the fate of recent assimilates through the plant-soil continuum. We applied two ¹³ CO ₂ pulses, at peak drought and in the recovery phase shortly after rewetting.Drought decreased total C uptake in both grassland types and led to a loss of above-ground carbohydrate storage pools. The below-ground C allocation to root su

SUBMITTER: Karlowsky S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5947120 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature