Abstract Plant invasions have dramatic aboveground effects on plant community composition, but their belowground remain largely uncharacterized. Soil microorganisms directly interact with plants and mediate many nutrient transformations in soil. We hypothesized that changes to the soil microbial provide a mechanistic link between exotic invasion ecosystem cycling. To examine this possible link, monocultures mixtures of native species were maintained for 4 years California grassland. Gross...

Understanding how plant recovery from herbivory interacts with the resource environment is necessary to predict under what conditions plants are most affected by herbivory, and ultimately impacts population dynamics. It has been commonly assumed that generally best able recover when growing in high conditions, an assumption which supported some models (e.g., continuum of responses model) but opposed others growth rate model). The validity generality any effects resources (light, nutrients,...

Understanding how fungal communities are affected by precipitation is an essential aspect of predicting soil functional responses to future climate change and the consequences those for carbon cycle. We tracked abundance, community composition, across 4 years in long-term field manipulations rainfall northern California. Fungi responded directly levels, with more abundant, diverse, consistent predominating under drought conditions, less variable emerging during wetter periods rain-addition...

Abstract Respiration of soil organic carbon is one the largest fluxes CO 2 on earth. Understanding processes that regulate respiration critical for predicting future climate. Recent work has suggested may be reduced by competition nitrogen between symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi associate with plant roots and free‐living microbial decomposers, which consistent increased storage in ecosystems globally. However, experimental tests mycorrhizal hypothesis are lacking. Here we show hyphae...

Abstract How soil processes such as carbon cycling will respond to future climate change depends on the responses of complex microbial communities, but most ecosystem models assume that functional are resilient and can be predicted from simple parameters biomass temperature. Here, we consider how historical contingencies might alter those because function prior conditions or biota. Functional resilience driven by physiological, community adaptive shifts; result influence environments a...

Summary Plant effects on soil biota can result in feedbacks affecting plant performance, with consequences for community and ecosystem dynamics short long time‐scales. In addition, the strength direction of plant–soil depend temporal shifts abiotic environmental conditions. We synthesize current knowledge aspects present new ideas to better understand predict properties across scales. Explaining short‐term feedback requires us mechanistic linkages between plants, organisms locally available...

Ecosystem carbon losses from soil microbial respiration are a key component of global cycling, resulting in the transfer 40-70 Pg to atmosphere each year. Because these processes can feed back climate change, understanding responses environmental factors is necessary for improved projections. We focus on moisture, which remain unresolved ecosystem models. A common assumption large-scale models that microorganisms respond moisture same way, regardless location or climate. Here, we show...

Successful plant invasions are often attributed to increased size, reproduction, or release from natural enemies, but the generality and persistence of these patterns remains widely debated. Meta-analysis was used quantitatively assess invasive performance enemy damage how change with residence time geographic distribution. Invasive plants were compared either in their introduced home ranges native congeners range. range generally larger, allocated more had lower levels herbivore...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important root symbionts that can provide benefits to plant hosts, yet we understand little about how neighboring hosts in a community contribute the composition of AMF community. We hypothesized neighborhood, including identities both host and neighbor, would alter composition. tested this glasshouse experiment which native perennial grass (Nassella pulchra) three annual grasses (Avena barbata, Bromus hordeaceaous Vulpia microstachys) were grown two...

Fire, microhabitat, and their interactions affect Florida scrub ecosystems plant species. Concepts of vegetation change in the upland landscape have followed successional theory, with recent models emphasizing resilience to fire interactive effects regime. We extend these by incorporating greater complexity types that departures from modal frequencies may alter vegetation. In particular, exclusion leads structural compositional changes that, turn, following reintroduction fire. Individual...

Abstract How soil carbon balance will be affected by plant–mycorrhizal interactions under future climate scenarios remains a significant unknown in our ability to forecast ecosystem storage and fluxes. We examined the effects of temperature (14, 20, 26 °C) on structure extent multispecies community arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi associated with Plantago lanceolata . To isolate from roots, we used mesh‐divided pot system separate hyphal compartments near away plant. A 13 C pulse label was...

Abstract Plant–soil interactions are the foundation of effective and sustained restoration terrestrial communities ecosystems. Recent advances in ecological science have greatly contributed to our understanding effects soil conditions on plant community dynamics composition impacts almost every aspect structure function. Although these theories provide important guidelines for practice restoration, they often fall short providing level information required make site‐specific management...

Fungal endophytes are symbionts that inhabit aboveground tissues of most terrestrial plants and can affect plant physiology growth under stressed conditions. In a future faced with substantial climate change, have the potential to play an important role in stress resistance. Understanding both distributions their functioning symbiosis key aspects predicting altered climate.Here we characterized grasses across steep precipitation gradient examine relative importance environmental spatial...

All terrestrial plants are colonized by foliar endophytic fungi that can affect plant growth and physiology, but the prediction of these effects on host remains a challenge. Here, we examined three paradigms potentially control how endophytes hosts: habitat adaptation, evolutionary history functional traits. We screened 35 plant-endophyte pairings in microcosm experiment under well-watered drought conditions with Panicum virgatum as host. related measured responses to fungal phylogenetic...

Abstract Soil moisture constrains the activity of decomposer soil microorganisms, and in turn rate at which carbon returns to atmosphere. While increases are generally associated with increased microbial activity, historical climate may constrain current responses moisture. However, it is not known if variation shape magnitude functional can be predicted from regional scales. To address this problem, we measured enzyme 12 sites across a broad gradient spanning 442–887 mm mean annual...

The complexity of processes and interactions that drive soil C dynamics necessitate the use proxy variables to represent characteristics cannot be directly measured (correlative proxies), or aggregate information about multiple into one variable (integrative proxies). These proxies have proven useful for understanding cycle, which is highly in both space time, are now being used make predictions fate persistence under future climate scenarios. However, pools must thoughtfully considered...

Abstract Soil moisture is a major driver of microbial activity and thus, the release carbon (C) into Earth's atmosphere. Yet, there no consensus on relationship between soil respiration, as result, response functions are poorly constrained aspect C models. In addition, models assume that respiration to same for all ecosystems, regardless climate history, an assumption many empirical studies have challenged. These gaps in understanding contribute uncertainty model predictions. We review our...