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Root chemistry and soil fauna, but not soil abiotic conditions explain the effects of plant diversity on root decomposition

  • Ecosystem ecology – original research
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Abstract

Plant diversity influences many ecosystem functions including root decomposition. However, due to the presence of multiple pathways via which plant diversity may affect root decomposition, our mechanistic understanding of their relationships is limited. In a grassland biodiversity experiment, we simultaneously assessed the effects of three pathways—root litter quality, soil biota, and soil abiotic conditions—on the relationships between plant diversity (in terms of species richness and the presence/absence of grasses and legumes) and root decomposition using structural equation modeling. Our final structural equation model explained 70% of the variation in root mass loss. However, different measures of plant diversity included in our model operated via different pathways to alter root mass loss. Plant species richness had a negative effect on root mass loss. This was partially due to increased Oribatida abundance, but was weakened by enhanced root potassium (K) concentration in more diverse mixtures. Equally, grass presence negatively affected root mass loss. This effect of grasses was mostly mediated via increased root lignin concentration and supported via increased Oribatida abundance and decreased root K concentration. In contrast, legume presence showed a net positive effect on root mass loss via decreased root lignin concentration and increased root magnesium concentration, both of which led to enhanced root mass loss. Overall, the different measures of plant diversity had contrasting effects on root decomposition. Furthermore, we found that root chemistry and soil biota but not root morphology or soil abiotic conditions mediated these effects of plant diversity on root decomposition.

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Acknowledgements

The Jena Experiment was funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG, FOR 1451) and was supported by the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena and the Max Planck Society. We thank the gardeners of the Jena Experiment for maintaining the plots and student helpers for the field work and sample preparation.

Data accessibility

Root mass loss, root C:N ratio, and soil water content are deposited at the Jena Experiment database and will be accessible via Dryad Digital Repository http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6k23f (Chen et al. 2017). The rest of the data are deposited at the Jena Experiment database and will be deposited at Pangaea (http://www.pangaea.de).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spezielle Botanik und Funktionelle Biodiversität, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Hongmei Chen, Kathryn E. Barry, Christian Wirth & Alexandra Weigelt

  2. Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, PO box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Natalie J. Oram, Liesje Mommer & Jasper van Ruijven

  3. Department of Experimental Plant Ecology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Hans de Kroon

  4. Population Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Anne Ebeling

  5. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Nico Eisenhauer, Anke Hildebrandt, Christian Wirth & Alexandra Weigelt

  6. Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Nico Eisenhauer

  7. Institute of Geosciences, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749, Jena, Germany

    Christine Fischer & Anke Hildebrandt

  8. Department of Conservation Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Christine Fischer

  9. Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry, PO Box 100164, 07701, Jena, Germany

    Gerd Gleixner, Anke Hildebrandt, Markus Lange & Christian Wirth

  10. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research-WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Arthur Gessler

  11. Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Altensteinstr. 34, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Arthur Gessler

  12. Animal Ecology Group, JF Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Göttingen University, Untere Karspüle 2, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Odette González Macé & Stefan Scheu

  13. Geoecology, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 19-23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Nina Hacker & Yvonne Oelmann

  14. Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestr. 1, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Michael Scherer-Lorenzen

  15. Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Cameron Wagg

  16. Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Reinhard-Baumeister-Platz 1, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Wolfgang Wilcke

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  1. Hongmei Chen
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  2. Natalie J. Oram
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  9. Christine Fischer
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Contributions

LM, JR, AG, MSL, and AW designed the experiment. HC, CF, OGM, NH, and ML collected the data. HC analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript with input from KB and AW. All authors provided input on the final written manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hongmei Chen.

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Funding

The Jena Experiment was funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG, FOR 1451). LM was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO, Vidi Grant 864.14.006). MSL was funded by the DFG (Gl262/14 and Gl262/19). YO was funded by the DFG (Oe516/3-2), WW was funded by the DFG (Wi1601/4) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF, 200021E-131195/1).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

Additional information

Communicated by Pascal A. Niklaus.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary material 1 (PDF 982 kb)

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Chen, H., Oram, N.J., Barry, K.E. et al. Root chemistry and soil fauna, but not soil abiotic conditions explain the effects of plant diversity on root decomposition. Oecologia 185, 499–511 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3962-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3962-9

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