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Title
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Experimental drought reduces the transfer of recently fixed plant carbon to soil microbes and alters the bacterial community composition in a mountain meadow
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Author
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Abstract
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| Drought affects plants and soil microorganisms, but it is still not clear how it alters the carbon (C) transfer at the plant-microbial interface. Here, we tested direct and indirect effects of drought on soil microbes and microbial turnover of recent plant-derived C in a mountain meadow. Microbial community composition was assessed using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs); the allocation of recent plant-derived C to microbial groups was analysed by pulse-labelling of canopy sections with (CO2)-C-13 and the subsequent tracing of the label into microbial PLFAs. Microbial biomass was significantly higher in plots exposed to a severe experimental drought. In addition, drought induced a shift of the microbial community composition, mainly driven by an increase of Gram-positive bacteria. Drought reduced belowground C allocation, but not the transfer of recently plant-assimilated C to fungi, and in particular reduced tracer uptake by bacteria. This was accompanied by an increase of C-13 in the extractable organic C pool during drought, which was even more pronounced after plots were mown. We conclude that drought weakened the link between plant and bacterial, but not fungal, C turnover, and facilitated the growth of potentially slow-growing, drought-adapted soil microbes, such as Gram-positive bacteria. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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New phytologist. - Oxford
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Publication
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Oxford
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2014
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ISSN
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0028-646X
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DOI
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10.1111/NPH.12569
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Volume/pages
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201
:3
(2014)
, p. 916-927
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ISI
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000337082000019
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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