Fuchslueger 2014 New Phytol

Experimental drought reduces the transfer of recently fixed plant carbon to soil microbes and alters the bacterial community composition in a mountain meadow. New Phytol 201(3):916-27.

» http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24171922

Fuchslueger L, Bahn M, Fritz K, Hasibeder R, Richter A (2014) New Phytol

Abstract: 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 (13) CO2 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 (13) C 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. • Keywords: 13C pulse-labelling, carbon allocation, drought, microbial community composition, mountain grassland, mowing, phospholipid fatty acids

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