Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Plant diversity predicts beta but not alpha div...

Links

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Plant diversity predicts beta but not alpha diversity of soil microbes across grasslands worldwide

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
  • Suzanne M. Prober
  • Jonathan W. Leff
  • Scott T. Bates
  • Elizabeth T. Borer
  • Jennifer Firn
  • W. Stanley Harpole
  • Eric M. Lind
  • Eric W. Seabloom
  • Peter B. Adler
  • Jonathan D. Bakker
  • Elsa E. Cleland
  • Nicole M. DeCrappeo
  • Elizabeth DeLorenze
  • Nicole Hagenah
  • Yann Hautier
  • Kirsten S. Hofmockel
  • Kevin P. Kirkman
  • Johannes M. H. Knops
  • Kimberly J. La Pierre
  • Andrew S. MacDougall
  • Rebecca L. McCulley
  • Charles E. Mitchell
  • Anita C. Risch
  • Martin Schuetz
  • Ryan J. Williams
  • Noah Fierer
Close
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>01/2015
<mark>Journal</mark>Ecology Letters
Issue number1
Volume18
Number of pages11
Pages (from-to)85-95
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date28/11/14
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Aboveground-belowground interactions exert critical controls on the composition and function of terrestrial ecosystems, yet the fundamental relationships between plant diversity and soil microbial diversity remain elusive. Theory predicts predominantly positive associations but tests within single sites have shown variable relationships, and associations between plant and microbial diversity across broad spatial scales remain largely unexplored. We compared the diversity of plant, bacterial, archaeal and fungal communities in one hundred and forty-five 1m(2) plots across 25 temperate grassland sites from four continents. Across sites, the plant alpha diversity patterns were poorly related to those observed for any soil microbial group. However, plant beta diversity (compositional dissimilarity between sites) was significantly correlated with the beta diversity of bacterial and fungal communities, even after controlling for environmental factors. Thus, across a global range of temperate grasslands, plant diversity can predict patterns in the composition of soil microbial communities, but not patterns in alpha diversity.