Plant antagonists

为应对气候变化，欧洲草原日益受到严重干旱的影响。SP09研究了干旱如何影响原生植物拮抗剂（卵菌门和植菌门）以及对植物多样性依赖的负面土壤遗留效应。我们的目标是评估i)这些原生植物拮抗剂在干旱响应中的时间稳定性、抗性和恢复，ii)植物多样性梯度中的拮抗剂如何受到干旱胁迫的影响，以及iii)随着植物多样性的增加，生物（拮抗剂）和非生物（干旱）胁迫如何对植物性能进行反馈。我们的中心假设是，干旱可能会放大植物拮抗剂对土壤的负面影响，特别是在植物多样性水平低的情况下。我们设计了四个协同工作包来评估i)受（正常）季节变化和极端（炎热干旱）事件影响的原生生物拮抗剂的群落组成、结构和系统发育代表的变化；ii)沿植物多样性梯度影响植物生长-防御权衡的生物和非生物综合胁迫。我们的建议将特别有助于植物多样性稳定生态系统功能以及长期模式可以通过对干旱的短期反应来预测的总体假设。

In response to climate change, European grasslands are increasingly affected by severe droughts. SP09 investigates how drought affects protistan plant antagonists (Oomycota and Phytomyxea) and resulting negative soil legacy effects in dependence on plant diversity. Our objectives are to assess i) the temporal stability, resistance, and recovery of these protistan plant antagonists in response to drought, ii) how antagonists in plant diversity gradients are affected by drought stress, and iii) how the combined biotic (antagonists) and abiotic (drought) stresses feedback on plant performance with increasing plant diversity. Our central hypothesis is that drought may amplify negative soil legacy effects by plant antagonists, especially at low plant diversity levels. We designed four coordinated work packages to assess i) changes in the community composition, structure and phylogenetic representation of protistan antagonists as affected by (normal) seasonal variation and extreme (hot drought) events and ii) the combined biotic and abiotic stresses affecting plant growth-defence trade-offs along the plant diversity gradient. Our proposal will particularly contribute to the overarching hypothesis that plant diversity stabilizes ecosystem functioning and that long-term patterns can be predicted by short-term responses to drought.