Plant species composition, species abundances, and species richness were strongly recruitment limited in a 4-yr experiment in which seeds of up to 54 species were added to patches of native grassland. Four field seasons after a one-time addition of seed, many added species were still present and reproducing, with plots seeded at the highest rate having species richness that was 83% greater and ...

Soil legacies mediated by plant species-specific microbial communities are major drivers of community dynamics. Most soil legacy studies focus on the role pathogens and mutualists in driving these processes, while much less is known about litter-mediated changes to community. Here, we used an existing plant-soil feedback field experiment which with different growth strategies (i.e., fast versus...

In his recent TREE news & comment, Watkinson1 drew attention to the role of soil microorganisms in plant population dynamics. In particular, he reported on the dynamical framework for the inter-relations between the composition of plant and soil communities, proposed last year by Bever et al.2 It is worth adding allelopathic interactions to this picture. Allelopathy has been defined by Rice3 as...

Atmospheric CO2 and O3 concentrations are increasing due to human activity and both trace gases have the potential to alter C cycling in forest ecosystems. Because soil microorganisms depend on plant litter as a source of energy for metabolism, changes in the amount or the biochemistry of plant litter produced under elevated CO2 and O3 could alter microbial community function and composition. P...

Climate change can influence soil microorganisms directly by altering their growth and activity but also indirectly via effects on the vegetation, which modifies the availability of resources. Direct impacts of climate change on soil microorganisms can occur rapidly, whereas indirect effects mediated by shifts in plant community composition are not immediately apparent and likely to increase ov...

The impact of secondary succession of grassland communities towards a Norway spruce forest on soil microbial community was studied on a belt transect established in the Pol’anaMts., Central Europe. Data on understory vegetation, light availability, soil properties and microbial activity were collected on 147 plots distributed over regular grid. Moreover, distributions of functional groups of mi...

Desert microbes are expected to be substantially sensitive to global environmental changes, such as precipitation changes and elevated nitrogen deposition. However, the effects of precipitation changes and nitrogen enrichment on their diversity and community composition remain poorly understood. We conducted a field experiment over 2 years with multi-level precipitation and nitrogen addition in...