Temperature increases the versatility of belowground plant-microbiota interactions in cold climates
- 1Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, Czech Republic
- 2Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- 3Department of Soil Biology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- 4Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- 5Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway
The ongoing change in climate extensively alters belowground interactions between plants and microbiota. Alterations in plant-microbiota interactions have significant implications for the functioning of ecosystems. To predict ecosystem change and protect vulnerable systems, it is therefore crucial to understand how climate shapes belowground plant-microbiota interactions. We test how prokaryote and fungal rhizosphere and root-associated communities of the perennial grass Festuca rubra are affected by temperature and precipitation in cold climate settings. We found that microbial communities were strongly shaped by temperature and to a lesser extent by precipitation. Temperature decreased relative habitat specialisation of the rhizosphere community and the fungal root-associated community. These effects were mediated by an increase in forb cover and a decrease in soil pH with temperature. Our findings indicate that with a rise in temperature in cold environments, plant-microbiota interactions become more versatile and adapted to a broader range of environmental conditions.
How to cite: in 't Zandt, D., Aldorfová, A., Šurinová, M., in ‘t Zandt, M. H., Vandvik, V., and Münzbergová, Z.: Temperature increases the versatility of belowground plant-microbiota interactions in cold climates, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-16883, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-16883, 2024.