Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30503
Title: | The strength of soil-plant interactions under forest is related to a Critical Soil Depth | Contributor(s): | Goebes, Philipp (author); Schmidt, Karsten (author); Seitz, Steffen (author); Both, Sabine (author) ; Bruelheide, Helge (author); Erfmeier, Alexandra (author); Scholten, Thomas (author); Kühn, Peter (author) | Publication Date: | 2019-06-14 | Open Access: | Yes | DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-019-45156-5 | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/30503 | Abstract: | Soil properties and terrain attributes are of great interest to explain and model plant productivity and community assembly (hereafter P&CA). Many studies only sample surface soils, and may therefore miss important variation of deeper soil levels. We aimed to identify a critical soil depth in which the relationships between soil properties and P&CA were strongest due to an ideal interplay among soil properties and terrain attributes. On 27 plots in a subtropical Chinese forest varying in tree and herb layer species richness and tree productivity, 29 soil properties in six depth columns and four terrain attributes were analyzed. Soil properties varied with soil depth as did their interrelationships. Non-linearity of soil properties led to critical soil depths in which different P&CA characteristics were explained best (using coefficients of determination). The strongest relationship of soil properties and terrain attributes to most of P&CA characteristics (adj. R2 ∼ 0.7) was encountered using a soil column of 0-16 cm. Thus, depending on the biological signal one is interested in, soil depth sampling has to be adapted. Considering P&CA in subtropical broad-leaved secondary forests, we recommend sampling one bulk sample of a column from 0?cm down to a critical soil depth of 16 cm. | Publication Type: | Journal Article | Source of Publication: | Scientific Reports, v.9, p. 1-12 | Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group | Place of Publication: | United Kingdom | ISSN: | 2045-2322 | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 060202 Community Ecology (excl. Invasive Species Ecology) 060208 Terrestrial Ecology |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 310302 Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) 310308 Terrestrial ecology |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 960806 Forest and Woodlands Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity 960505 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Forest and Woodlands Environments 961403 Forest and Woodlands Soils |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: | 180606 Terrestrial biodiversity 180301 Assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems 180605 Soils |
Peer Reviewed: | Yes | HERDC Category Description: | C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal |
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Appears in Collections: | Journal Article School of Environmental and Rural Science |
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File | Description | Size | Format | |
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openpublished/TheStrengthBoth2019JournalArticle.pdf | Published version | 1.51 MB | Adobe PDF Download Adobe | View/Open |
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