Abstract
Background and aims
Interactions between functional groups of soil fauna and plants are poorly explored although they drive functional processes such as nutrient availability and therefore plant performance. Here, we investigated the separated and combined effects of two collembolan functional groups on soil properties and growth of Lolium perenne, a typical grass species from temperate grasslands.
Methods
Under microcosm conditions, we established four treatments based on the presence and combination of two collembolan functional groups: (1) control without Collembola; (2) epedaphic species; (3) euedaphic species; (4) epedaphic + euedaphic species. After five months of experiment, we measured the effect of those treatments on both nutritional and morphological variables of L. perenne and on soil properties.
Results
Collembolan presence stimulated plant performance. Individuals of L. perenne growing with euedaphic species presented higher numbers of leaves and nutrient contents compared with individuals growing with epedaphic species. Further, the combination of both collembolan functional groups enhanced plant performance and soil nutrient availability, demonstrating that a functionally diversified soil fauna assemblage cause overyielding of ecological processes.
Conclusion
Our results provide evidences of complementarity interactions between different functional groups of soil fauna causing overyielding of primary production.
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Acknowledgements
BR Winck was granted by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil. SFM Coulibaly was granted by Région “Haute-Normandie” through the GRR TERA − SCALE 2016. We thank all members of the Ecodiv lab for technical assistance and fruitful discussions.
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Winck, B.R., Chauvat, M., Coulibaly, S.F.M. et al. Functional collembolan assemblages induce different plant responses in Lolium perenne. Plant Soil 452, 347–358 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04579-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04579-0