Journal
PLANT AND SOIL
Volume 409, Issue 1-2, Pages 297-312Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11104-016-2964-4
Keywords
Aboveground-belowground linkages; Plant functional traits; Plasticity; Soil microbial properties; Soil processes; Climate change
Categories
Funding
- European Commission
- EU [264465]
- BBSRC [BB/L02456X/1]
- BBSRC [BB/L02456X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/L02456X/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Natural Environment Research Council [ceh010010] Funding Source: researchfish
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Root traits are increasingly used to predict how plants modify soil processes. Here, we assessed how drought-induced changes in root systems of four common grassland species affected C and N availability in soil. We hypothesized that drought would promote resource-conservative root traits such as high root tissue density (RTD) and low specific root length (SRL), and that these changes would result in higher soil N availability through decreased root N uptake, but lower C availability through reduced root exudation. We subjected individual plants to drought under controlled conditions, and compared the response of their root biomass, root traits, and soil C and N availability, to control individuals. Drought affected most root traits through reducing root biomass. Only SRL and RTD displayed plasticity; drought reduced SRL, and increased RTD in small plants but decreased RTD in larger plants. Reduced root biomass and a shift towards more resource-conservative root traits increased soil inorganic N availability but did not directly affect soil C availability. These findings identify mechanisms through which drought-induced changes in root systems affect soil C and N availability, and contribute to our understanding of how root traits modify soil processes in a changing world.
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