Conventional agriculture and not drought alters relationships between soil biota and functions

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 23975
• Main Authors: Birkhofer, Klaus, Fliessbach, Andreas, Gavín-Centol, María Pilar, Hedlund, Katarina, Ingimarsdóttir, María, Jørgensen, Helene Bracht, Kozjek, Katja, Meyer, Svenja, Montserrat, Marta, Moreno, Sara Sánchez, Laraño, Jordi Moya, Scheu, Stefan, Serrano-Carnero, Diego, Truu, Jaak, Kundel, Dominika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 14.12.2021; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural management; Agricultural practices; Agricultural Science, Forestry and Fisheries; Agricultural Sciences; Agriculture; Biodiversity; Biota; Climatic conditions; Drought; Ecological function; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Farming; Farming systems; Growing season; Lantbruksvetenskap och veterinärmedicin; Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske; Markvetenskap; Microbial activity; Moisture content; Organic farming; Soil microorganisms; Soil Science; Soil water; Water content
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03276-x

Soil biodiversity constitutes the biological pillars of ecosystem services provided by soils worldwide. Soil life is threatened by intense agricultural management and shifts in climatic conditions as two important global change drivers which are not often jointly studied under field conditions. We addressed the effects of experimental short-term drought over the wheat growing season on soil organisms and ecosystem functions under organic and conventional farming in a Swiss long term trial. Our results suggest that activity and community metrics are suitable indicators for drought stress while microbial communities primarily responded to agricultural practices. Importantly, we found a significant loss of multiple pairwise positive and negative relationships between soil biota and process-related variables in response to conventional farming, but not in response to experimental drought. These results suggest a considerable weakening of the contribution of soil biota to ecosystem functions under long-term conventional agriculture. Independent of the farming system, experimental and seasonal (ambient) drought conditions directly affected soil biota and activity. A higher soil water content during early and intermediate stages of the growing season and a high number of significant relationships between soil biota to ecosystem functions suggest that organic farming provides a buffer against drought effects.