Drought soil legacy alters drivers of plant diversity-productivity relationships in oldfield systems.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystem functions are threatened by both recurrent droughts and declines in biodiversity at a global scale, but the drought dependency of diversity-productivity relationships remains poorly understood. Here, we use a two-phase mesocosm experiment with simulated drought and model oldfield communities (360 experimental mesocosms/plant communities) to examine drought-induced changes in soil microbial communities along a plant species richness gradient and to assess interactions between past drought (soil legacies) and subsequent drought on plant diversity-productivity relationships. We show that (i) drought decreases bacterial and fungal richness and modifies relationships between plant species richness and microbial groups; (ii) drought soil legacy increases net biodiversity effects, but r

SUBMITTER: Xi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9067920 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature