Grazing, disturbance and plant soil interactions in northern grasslands

• Main Author: Sørensen, L. I. (Louise Ilum)
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oulu 2009
• Subjects: aboveground-belowground interactions; defoliation; disturbances; fertilization; field experiments; grazing; greenhouse experiments; plant community structure; soil communities; spatial heterogeneity; sub-arctic grasslands; trampling
• Online Access: http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789514291395; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:isbn:9789514291395

Abstract Plants and soil organisms are closely linked. Plants are the sole source of carbon in the soil and soil organisms are responsible for recycling of nutrients, making them available for plant growth. To understand the function of a system, it is important to understand the interactions between the soil and plants. These interactions have mainly been studied in temperate areas, with few studies in the arctic and subarctic. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of ecological disturbances in sub- and low-arctic grasslands on soil organisms and plant-soil feedback relationships. The effect of removal of vegetation, replanting of a local plant species, and different components of grazing (trampling, defoliation and return of nutrients) on soil decomposer organisms were studied. Whether short term effects of defoliation depended on plant species community was also studied, as well as whether defoliation in the field could create changes in the soil system systems that affect the growth of seedlings. Experiments were conducted under both controlled greenhouse conditions and in field sites. The results showed that physical disturbance (removal of vegetation and trampling) reduced the abundance and diversity of soil biota. Defoliation increased soil decomposer abundance in the short term. Plant species composition did not affect soil biota and only in a few cases did it changes their responses to defoliation. In the long-term, effects of fertilization and defoliation on the soil biota were context-dependent. However, defoliation did create changes in the soil that reduced the growth of seedlings planted into the soil. Furthermore, plant species community and spatial heterogeneity (revealed by blocking) had important effects on the soil communities.