The plant root microbiome diversity and resilience in a changing climate

Soil biodiversity influence ecosystem functioning, and changes in soil biodiversity impairs multiple ecosystem functions. All living plants are closely associated with a high diversity of microorganisms essential for their functioning. Belowground, plants roots live in symbiosis with root associated fungi (RAF) and also host a rich diversity of prokaryotes, together known as the plant root microbiome. RAF has a surprisingly important role in long-term carbon storage and sequestration. How and at which rate the associated plant root microbiome responds to the shifts in temperature and precipitation has been largely unknown and thereby overlooked in climate models, even though changes in the plant root microbiome may significantly alter long term carbon storage and sequestration. The DRIVE project has utilized an already established infrastructure to study how the ecologically important plant root microbiome responds to large-scale changes in the environment. The project is divided in three work packages (WPs). Plants and their associated plant root microbiome has been collected for WP1 and WP3 (2015 and 2016) and transplanted for WP2 (2015). The transplanted plants were checked during field work 2016, 2017 and 2018, and harvested during fieldwork 2019. The plant root- and soil microbiome has been sequenced and analyzed for WP1, and sequenced for WP 2. Soil samples were analysed during a research stay at SLU in Uppsala spring 2018. A full scale experiment for WP3, investigating fungal recruitment from soil to plant roots under different temperatures is completed and sequenced (WP3). The results from DRIVE show that communities of fungi closely associated with plant roots are structured by both temperature and precipitation. Soils in drier climates possess higher fungal biomass and soil C compared to wetter soils. The predicted warmer and wetter climate in boreal areas may lead to lower soil C stocks in boreal grasslands, which ultimately may affect the global C balance. All WPs are currently being written up for publication in international journals.

Resultata frå prosjektet visar korleis klima kan påverke soppsamfunn i jord og planterøtter, og korleis endring i desse kan påverke karbonmengd i jorda. Resultat frå prosjektet som har vore presentert på konferansar, symposier og for forskergrupper internasjonalt er blitt mottatt med stor interesse av fagfeltet, og bidrag til ny og viktig kunnskap om prosessar i jord i lys av framtidige klimaendringar. Resultata vil såleis kunne bidra til kunnskapsgrunnlaget for framtidige klimamodellar.

Soil biodiversity influence ecosystem functioning, and changes in soil biodiversity impairs multiple ecosystem functions. All living plants are closely associated with a high diversity of microorganisms essential for their functioning. Belowground, plants roots live in symbiosis with root associated fungi (RAF) and also host a rich diversity of prokaryotes, together known as the plant root microbiome. RAF has recently been shown to have a surprisingly important role in long-term carbon storage and sequestration. How and at which rate the associated plant root microbiome responds to the shifts in temperature and precipitation is largely unknown and thereby overlooked in climate models, even though changes in the plant root microbiome may significantly alter long term carbon storage and sequestration. The DRIVE project will take advantage of an already established infrastructure to study how the ecologically important plant root microbiome responds to large-scale changes in the environment, and seeks to model the potential implication for long-term carbon storage and sequestration In a field survey (WP1), the plant root microbiome associated with two host plants will be assessed in the SEEDCLIM climate grid using high throughput DNA sequencing approaches. In WP2, plants with their associated rhizospheres, will be transplanted within the SEEDCLIM climate grid and responses on the shifts in environmental conditions on the root microbiome assessed. In WP3 a controlled common garden experiment will be conducted where climate effects on both the root microbiome and the host plant will be assessed. Hence, the three WPs are highly interrelated, stretching from observational field studies to experiments where causal relationships will be addressed.The project will bring together a high level consortium of national and international leading scientists within microbial ecology and climate change ecology, which will ensure access to the needed competence of the DRIVE project