Publication Details
Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/nph.70756
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Legacies of consecutive summer droughts on soil-borne plant parasitic protists (Oomycota: Stramenopila and Phytomyxea: Rhizaria) and protistan consumers (Cercozoa: Rhizaria) along an experimental plant diversity gradient
Author Solbach, M.D.; Albracht, C.; Dumack, K.; Eisenhauer, N.; Fiore-Donno, A.M.; Heck, N.; Vogel, A.; Wagg, C.; Bonkowski, M.
Source Titel New Phytologist
Year 2026
Department AECOL
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.25829/CJMH-AW38
https://doi.org/10.25829/ET0X-JX88
https://doi.org/10.25829/FJPF-3D41
https://doi.org/10.25829/PMQK-J962
https://doi.org/10.25829/XFG6-WD77
https://doi.org/10.25829/X1SH-3K57
https://doi.org/10.25829/0DYA-X475
https://doi.org/10.25829/7YPD-FM92
Supplements Supplement 1
Supplement 2
Supplement 3
Supplement 4
Keywords biodiversity loss; biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships; Cercozoa; climate change; Jena Experiment; Oomycota; plant parasites; soil biodiversity
Abstract
  • Increasing frequencies of severe summer droughts and plant diversity loss disrupt ecosystem functioning and stability of European grasslands. Understanding how these factors interact with pathogens is crucial.
  • We investigated the effects of plant diversity and repeated summer drought on soil-borne parasites within a grassland biodiversity experiment. The experiment included plant communities ranging from 1 to 60 species, with a sub-experiment simulating annual droughts for 6 wk in summer over 9 yr. One year after the final drought period, we analyzed the diversity and community composition of two parasitic protistan taxa with many plant-pathogenic members, Oomycota (Stramenopila) and Phytomyxea (Rhizaria), as well as protistan consumers in the Cercozoa (Rhizaria) using amplicon sequencing.
  • Both Oomycota and Cercozoa, including Phytomyxea, responded to plant species richness and drought, but not uniformly. Plant species-specific Oomycota were enriched under drought, while Phytomyxea and cercozoan consumers exhibited shifts in both enriched and reduced operational taxonomic units. No mitigating effect of plant diversity against the effects of drought was observed.
  • Our findings suggest that repeated summer droughts weaken plant defense against protistan plant parasites, causing long-lasting soil legacy effects across plant communities varying in diversity and community composition, potentially threatening ecosystem stability and functioning under future climate conditions.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=31922
Solbach, M.D., Albracht, C., Dumack, K., Eisenhauer, N., Fiore-Donno, A.M., Heck, N., Vogel, A., Wagg, C., Bonkowski, M. (2026):
Legacies of consecutive summer droughts on soil-borne plant parasitic protists (Oomycota: Stramenopila and Phytomyxea: Rhizaria) and protistan consumers (Cercozoa: Rhizaria) along an experimental plant diversity gradient
New Phytol. 10.1111/nph.70756