Earthworms increase plant biomass more in soil with no earthworm legacy than in earthworm-mediated soil, and favour late successional species in competition

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F18%3A10378458" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/18:10378458 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/67985939:_____/18:00489188

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12999" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12999</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12999" target="_blank" >10.1111/1365-2435.12999</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Earthworms increase plant biomass more in soil with no earthworm legacy than in earthworm-mediated soil, and favour late successional species in competition

Original language description

1. As ecosystem engineers, earthworms greatly affect plant communities. They create persistent soil structures enriched by nutrients that improve the conditions for plant growth and modify competition between plant species. We therefore hypothesized that earthworm activity would be more important in early stages of the primary succession, when the soil is not modified by earthworms, than in the late stages of the succession, when the soil is already improved by earthworms. On the other hand, earthworms also affect plants via many other effects such as seed predation or excreting hormone-like compounds, which could make earthworm presence important in late successional soil. 2. To explore earthworm effects on plant community succession, we performed a laboratory microcosm experiment without and with earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus and Aporrectodea caliginosa), with early successional plants (Poa compressa, Medicago lupulina and Daucus carota) and late successional plants (Arrhenatherum elatius, Lotus corniculatus and Plantago lanceolata) and with soil previously unaffected by earthworms (young soil) and soil substantially affected by earthworms (developed soil). These soils were taken from the early and late successional post-mining sites of the Sokolov coal mining district (northwest Czech Republic). 3. When both early and late successional plants were grown separately, earthworms increased plant biomass proportionally more in the young soil than in the developed soil, indicating that earthworm activity is more important in undeveloped than in developed soil. 4. When early and late successional plants were competing each other, the biomass of the early successional plants was reduced. In the young soil, the reduction was independent of earthworm presence. In the developed soil, the reduction was promoted by the earthworms. Late successional plants profited from the reduction of early successional plants and increased their biomass. This increase was promoted by the earthworm presence. 5. Our results indicate that the direct effects of earthworm presence on plants decrease during succession because of the cumulative effects of earthworm activity on soil conditions. Such ecosystem engineering effects favour late successional competitors and therefore promote the replacement of species during succession.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2018

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Functional Ecology

ISSN

0269-8463

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

32

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

10

Pages from-to

626-635

UT code for WoS article

000426503900004

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85032937356