Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Post-drought rewetting triggers substantial K release and shifts in leaf stoichiometry in managed and abandoned mountain grasslands

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and aim

When soil is rewetted after drought, typically a transient pulse of mineralization and other microbial processes occur. This “Birch effect” translates into a temporarily elevated soil carbon dioxide efflux (SCE) and may alter nutrient availability. While rewetting effects on SCE have been frequently studied, effects on soil nutrient supply have rarely been considered despite potential relevance for plant nutrition during post-drought recovery.

Methods

We investigated the magnitude of the post-drought rewetting effect on SCE, ion exchange membrane-derived soil nutrient supply rates and leaf stoichiometry in a drought experiment in the Austrian Alps. We conducted the experiment on a managed grassland (MG) and a nearby abandoned grassland (AG).

Results

Under drought, soil moisture depleted faster at MG than at AG. Upon rewetting, the SCE pulse was significantly larger at MG than at AG, whereas N, P and K supplies were more strongly stimulated at AG. A large, transient rewetting effect on soil K supply (MG: +363 ± 132%; AG: +821 ± 195%) was reflected in elevated K in leaves of Leontodon hispidus.

Conclusions

Rewetting can alter post-drought nutrient availability in mountain grasslands, with particularly pronounced effects on soil K supply.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Processed data used for this study are available at https://github.com/KevinVanSundert/Stubai_PS_2019_KVS.

References

  • Arfin Khan MAS, Kreyling J, Beierkuhnlein C, Jentsch A (2016) Ecotype-specific improvement of nitrogen status in European grasses after drought combined with rewetting. Acta Oecol 77:118–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahn M, Rodeghiero M, Anderson-Dunn M, Dore S, Gimeno C, Drösler M, Williams M, Ammann C, Berninger F, Flechard C, Jones S, Balzarolo M, Kumar S, Newesely C, Priwitzer T, Raschi A, Siegwolf R, Susiluoto S, Tenhunen J, Wohlfahrt G, Cernusca A (2008) Soil respiration in European grasslands in relation to climate and assimilate supply. Ecosystems 11:1352–1367

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bahn M, Reichstein M, Davidson EA, Grünzweig J, Jung M, Carbone MS, Epron D, Misson L, Nouvellon Y, Roupsard O, Savage K, Trumbore SE, Gimeno C, Yuste JC, Tang J, Vargas R, Janssens IA (2010) Soil respiration at mean annual temperature predicts annual total across vegetation types and biomes. Biogeosciences 7:2147–2157

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bahn M, Knapp M, Garajova Z, Pfahringer N, Cernusca A (2006) Root respiration in temperate mountain grasslands differing in land use. Glob Chang Biol:–12, 995–1006

  • Bartholomew RP, Janssen G (1929) Luxury consumption of potassium by plants and its significance. Agron J 21:751

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Battie-Laclau P, Laclau JP, Domec JC, Christina M, Bouillet JP, de Cassia Piccolo M, de Moraes Gonçalves JL, e Moreira RM, Krusche AV, Bouvet JM, Nouvellon Y (2014) Effects of potassium and sodium supply on drought-adaptive mechanisms in Eucalyptus grandis plantations. New Phytol 203:401–413

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Birch HF (1958) The effect of soil drying on humus decomposition and nitrogen availability. Plant Soil 10:9–31

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Birch HF (1964) Mineralisation of plant nitrogen following alternate wet and dry conditions. Plant Soil 20:43–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloor JMG, Bardgett RD (2012) Stability of above-ground and below-ground processes to extreme drought in model grassland ecosystems: interactions with plant species diversity and soil nitrogen availability. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 14:193–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Bobbink R, Hicks K, Galloway J, Spranger T, Alkemade R, Ashmore M, Bustamante M, Cinderby S, Davidson E, Dentener F, Emmett B, Erisman JW, Fenn M, Gilliam F, Nordin A, Pardo L, de Vries W (2010) Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis. Ecol Appl 20:30–59

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borken W, Matzner E (2009) Reappraisal of drying and wetting effects on C and N mineralization and fluxes in soils. Glob Chang Biol 15:808–824

    Google Scholar 

  • Bray RH, Kurtz LT (1945) Determination of total, organic, and available forms of phosphorus in soils. Soil Sci 59:39–46

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner DL, Amundson R, Baisden WT, Kendall C, Harden J (2001) Soil N and 15 N variation with time in a California annual grassland ecosystem. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:4171–4186

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown IC (1943) A rapid method of determining exchangeable hydrogen and total exchangeable bases of soils. Soil Sci 56:353–358

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Butterly CR, Marschner P, McNeill AM, Baldock JA (2010) Rewetting CO2 pulses in Australian agricultural soils and the influence of soil properties. Biol Fertil Soils 46:739–753

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cable JM, Ogle K, Williams DG, Weltzin JF, Huxman TE (2008) Soil texture drives responses of soil respiration to precipitation pulses in the Sonoran Desert: implications for climate change. Ecosystems 11:961–979

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, G.S., Norman, J.M., 1998. Chapter 8 - heat flow in the soil. In: Campbell, G.S., Norman, J.M. (Eds.), An introduction to environmental biophysics, second ed. Springer-Verlag, New York, USA, pp. 113–128

  • Canarini A, Kiær LP, Dijkstra FA (2017) Soil carbon loss regulated by drought intensity and available substrate: a meta-analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 112:90–99

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS, Matson PA, Mooney HA (2002) Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. Springer-Verlag, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, M., et al., 2013. Long-term climate change: projections, commitments and irreversibility. In: Stocker, T.F., et al. (Eds.), Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA, pp. 1029–1136

  • Craine JM et al (2015) Ecological interpretations of nitrogen isotope ratios of terrestrial plants and soils. Plant Soil 396:1–26

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Craine JM, Elmore AJ, Aidar MP, Bustamante M, Dawson TE, Hobbie EA, Kahmen A, Mack MC, McLauchlan K, Michelsen A, Nardoto GB, Pardo LH, Peñuelas J, Reich PB, Schuur EA, Stock WD, Templer PH, Virginia RA, Welker JM, Wright IJ (2009) Global patterns of foliar nitrogen isotopes and their relationships with climate, mycorrhizal fungi, foliar nutrient concentrations, and nitrogen availability. New Phytol 183:980–992

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Denef K et al (2001) Influence of dry–wet cycles on the interrelationship between aggregate, particulate organic matter, and microbial community dynamics. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1599–1611

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dengler J, Tischew S (2018) Grasslands of Western and northern Europe - between intensification and abandonment. In: Squires V, Dengler J, Feng H, Hua L (eds) Grasslands of the world: diversity, management and conservation. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickman, SR, Bray, RH, 1940 Colorimetric determination of phosphate Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Analytical Edition 12, 665–668

  • Dreesen FE, De Boeck HJ, Janssens IA, Nijs I (2012) Summer heat and drought extremes trigger unexpected changes in productivity of a temperate annual/biannual plant community. Environ Exp Bot 79:21–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Dumont B, Andueza D, Niderkorn V, Luscher A, Porqueddu C, Picon-Cochard C (2015) A meta-analysis of climate change effects on forage quality in grasslands: specificities of mountain and Mediterranean areas. Grass Forage Sci 70:239–254

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elmore AJ, Craine JM, Nelson DM, Guinn SM (2017) Continental scale variability of foliar nitrogen and carbon isotopes in Populus balsamifera and their relationships with climate. Sci Rep 7:7759

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Etesami H, Emami S, Alikhani HA (2017) Potassium solubilizing Bacteria (KSB): mechanisms, promotion of plant growth, and future prospects ­ a review. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 17:897–911

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Evans SE, Burke IC (2013) Carbon and nitrogen decoupling under an 11-year drought in the shortgrass steppe. Ecosystems. 16:20–33

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, Jones SB, Qi LB, Wang QJ, Huang MB (2012) Effects of precipitation pulses on water and carbon dioxide fluxes in two semiarid ecosystems: measurement and modeling. Environ Earth Sci 67:2315–2324

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fay PA, Blair JM, Smith MD, Nippert JB, Carlisle JD, Knapp AK (2011) Relative effects of precipitation variability and warming on tallgrass prairie ecosystem function. Biogeosciences 8:3053–3068

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fay PA et al (2015) Grassland productivity limited by multiple nutrients. Nature Plants 1:15080

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fierer N, Schimel JP (2003) A proposed mechanism for the pulse in carbon dioxide production commonly observed following the rapid rewetting of a dry soil. Soil Science Society of America:67, 798

  • Francis, J., Skific, N., 2015. Evidence linking rapid Arctic warming to mid-latitude weather patterns. Philosophical transactions. Series a, mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences 373(2045)

  • Frank D, Reichstein M, Bahn M, Thonicke K, Frank D, Mahecha MD, Smith P, van der Velde M, Vicca S, Babst F, Beer C, Buchmann N, Canadell JG, Ciais P, Cramer W, Ibrom A, Miglietta F, Poulter B, Rammig A, Seneviratne SI, Walz A, Wattenbach M, Zavala MA, Zscheischler J (2015) Effects of climate extremes on the terrestrial carbon cycle: concepts, processes and potential future impacts. Glob Chang Biol 21:2861–2880

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser FC, Corstanje R, Deeks LK, Harris JA, Pawlett M, Todman LC, Whitmore AP, Ritz K (2016) On the origin of carbon dioxide released from rewetted soils. Soil Biol Biochem 101:1–5

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchslueger L, Bahn M, Fritz K, Hasibeder R, Richter A (2014a) Experimental drought reduces the transfer of recently fixed plant carbon to soil microbes and alters the bacterial community composition in a mountain meadow. New Phytol 201:916–927

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fuchslueger L et al (2014b) Effects of drought on nitrogen turnover and abundances of ammonia-oxidizers in mountain grassland. Biogeosciences 11:6003–6015

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchslueger L et al (2019) Microbial carbon and nitrogen cycling responses to drought and temperature in differently managed mountain grasslands. Soil Biol Biochem 135:144–153

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gee, G.W., Bauder, J.W., 1986. Particle-size analysis. In: Klute, A. (Ed.). Methods of soil analysis part 1: physical and mineralogical methods, second ed. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, pp. 383–411

  • Gobiet A, Kotlarski S, Beniston M, Heinrich G, Rajczak J, Stoffel M (2014) 21st century climate change in the European Alps—a review. Sci Total Environ 493:138–1151

    Google Scholar 

  • Granier A et al (2007) Evidence for soil water control on carbon and water dynamics in European forests during the extremely dry year: 2003. Agric For Meteorol 143:123–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Grigulis K et al (2013) Relative contributions of plant traits and soil microbial properties to mountain grassland ecosystem services. J Ecol 101:47–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris E, Ladreiter-Knauss T, Butterbach-Bahl K, Wolf B, Bahn M (2018) Land-use and abandonment alters methane and nitrous oxide fluxes in mountain grasslands. Sci Total Environ 628-629:997–1008

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hasibeder R, Fuchslueger L, Richter A, Bahn M (2015) Summer drought alters carbon allocation to roots and root respiration in mountain grassland. New Phytol 205:1117–1127

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • He M, Dijkstra FA (2014) Drought effect on plant nitrogen and phosphorus: a meta-analysis. New Phytol 204:924–931

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hietz P, Turner BL, Wanek W, Richter A, Nock CA, Wright SJ (2011) Long-term change in the nitrogen cycle of tropical forests. Science 334:664–666

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Högberg P, Johannisson C, Yarwood S, Callesen I, Näsholm T, Myrold DD, Högberg MN (2011) Recovery of ectomycorrhiza after ‘nitrogen saturation’ of a conifer forest. New Phytol 189:515–525

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Homyak PM, Allison SD, Huxman TE, Goulden ML, Treseder KK (2017) Effects of drought manipulation on soil nitrogen cycling: a meta-analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 122:3260–3272

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingrisch J, Bahn M (2018) Towards a comparable quantification of resilience. Trends Ecol Evol 33:251–259

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ingrisch J, Karlowsky S, Anadon-Rosell A, Hasibeder R, König A, Augusti A, Gleixner G, Bahn M (2018) Land use alters the drought responses of productivity and CO2 fluxes in mountain grassland. Ecosystems 21:689–703

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC, 2014. Climate change 2014 synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change in: Pachauri, R.K., Meyer, L.a. (Eds.), IPCC, Genève, Switzerland

  • Jarvis, P, et al, 2007 Drying and wetting of Mediterranean soils stimulates decomposition and carbon dioxide emission: the ‘Birch effect’ Tree Physiology 27, 929–940

  • Jentsch A et al (2011) Climate extremes initiate ecosystem-regulating functions while maintaining productivity. J Ecol 99:689–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones SK, Collins SL, Blair JM, Smith MD, Knapp AK (2016) Altered rainfall patterns increase forb abundance and richness in native tallgrass prairie. Sci Rep 6:20120

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karlowsky S, Augusti A, Ingrisch J, Hasibeder R, Lange M, Lavorel S, Bahn M, Gleixner G (2018) Land use in mountain grasslands alters drought response and recovery of carbon allocation and plant-microbial interactions. J Ecol 106:1230–1243

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim D-G, Vargas R, Bond-Lamberty B, Turetsky MR (2012) Effects of soil rewetting and thawing on soil gas fluxes: a review of current literature and suggestions for future research. Biogeosciences 9:2459–2483

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim D-G, Mu S, Kang S, Lee D (2010) Factors controlling soil CO2 effluxes and the effects of rewetting on effluxes in adjacent deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests in Korea. Soil Biol Biochem 42:576–585

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann J, Schroth G (2003) Chapter 7 – nutrient leaching. In: Schroth G, Sinclair FL (eds) Trees, crops and soil fertility – concepts and research methods. Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International, Wallingford, pp 151–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Wang C, Peng B, Xia Z, Jiang P, Bai E (2016) Effect of nitrogen addition on the variations in the natural abundance of nitrogen isotopes of plant and soil components. Plant Soil 412:453–464

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Ballesteros A et al (2016) Enhancement of the net CO2 release of a semiarid grassland in SE Spain by rain pulses. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 121:52–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez-Sangil L, Hartley IP, Rovira P, Casals P, Sayer EJ (2018) Drying and rewetting conditions differentially affect the mineralization of fresh plant litter and extant soil organic matter. Soil Biol Biochem 124:81–89

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Manzoni S, Schimel JP, Porporato A (2012) Responses of soil microbial communities to water stress: results from a meta-analysis. Ecology 93:930–938

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martinelli, L.A., et al., 1999. Nitrogen stable isotopic composition of leaves and soil: tropical versus temperate forests. New Perspectives on Nitrogen Cycling in the Temperate and Tropical Americas, 45–65

  • Meisner A, Leizeaga A, Rousk J, Bååth E (2017) Partial drying accelerates bacterial growth recovery to rewetting. Soil Biol Biochem 112:269–276

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer S, Leifeld J, Bahn M, Fuhrer J (2012) Free and protected soil organic carbon dynamics respond differently to abandonment of mountain grassland. Biogeosciences 9:853–865

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morillas L, Roales J, Portillo-Estrada M, Gallardo A (2017) Wetting-drying cycles influence on soil respiration in two Mediterranean ecosystems. Eur J Soil Biol 82:10–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Nardoto GB et al (2013) Basin-wide variations in Amazon forest nitrogen-cycling characteristics as inferred from plant and soil 15N:14N measurements. Plant Ecology & Diversity 7:173–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Navarro-García F, Ángel Casermeiro M, Schimel JP (2012) When structure means conservation: effect of aggregate structure in controlling microbial responses to rewetting events. Soil Biol Biochem 44:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Novozamsky I, Houba VJG, van Eck R, van Vark W (1983) A novel digestion technique for multi-element plant analysis. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 14:239–249

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olde Venterink H, Wassen MJ, Verkroost AWM, De Ruiter PC (2003) Species richness-productivity patterns differ between N-, P-, and K-limited wetlands. Ecology 84:2191–2199

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, S.R., Sommers, L.E., 1982. Phosphorus. In: Pace, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R. (Eds.), Methods of soil analysis part 2: chemical and microbiological properties, second ed. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, pp. 403–430

  • Pötsch EM, Asel A, Schaumberger A, Resch R (2014) Impact of climate change on grassland productivity and forage quality in Austria. Grassland Science in Europe 19:139–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian P, Schoenau JJ (2002) Practical applications of ion exchange resins in agricultural and environmental soil research. Can J Soil Sci 82:9–21

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team., 2017. R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/. [accessed 16 May 2018]

  • Ren H et al (2017) Exacerbated nitrogen limitation ends transient stimulation of grassland productivity by increased precipitation. Ecol Monogr 87:457–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Roy J, Picon-Cochard C, Augusti A, Benot ML, Thiery L, Darsonville O, Landais D, Piel C, Defossez M, Devidal S, Escape C, Ravel O, Fromin N, Volaire F, Milcu A, Bahn M, Soussana JF (2016) Elevated CO2 maintains grassland net carbon uptake under a future heat and drought extreme. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:6224–6229

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel JP (2018) Life in dry soils: effects of drought on soil microbial communities and processes. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 49:409–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel, J.P., et al., 2010. The biogeochemistry of drought. 19th world congress of soil science, soil solutions for a changing world, Brisbane, Australia

  • Schmitt M, Bahn M, Wohlfahrt G, Tappeiner U, Cernusca A (2010) Land use affects the net ecosystem CO2 exchange and its components in mountain grasslands. Biogeosciences 7:2297–2309

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sardans J, Peñuelas J (2012) The role of plants in the effects of global change on nutrient availability and stoichiometry in the plant-soil system. Plant Physiol 160:1741–1761

    PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schirpke U, Kohler M, Leitinger G, Fontana V, Tasser E, Tappeiner U (2017) Future impacts of changing land-use and climate on ecosystem services of mountain grassland and their resilience. Ecosystem Services 26(A):79–94

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH, Dietze MC, Jackson RB, Phillips RP, Rhoades CC, Rustad LE, Vose JM (2016) Forest biogeochemistry in response to drought. Glob Chang Biol 22:2318–2328

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shi W-Y, Tateno R, Zhang J-G, Wang Y-L, Yamanaka N, Du S (2011) Response of soil respiration to precipitation during the dry season in two typical forest stands in the forest–grassland transition zone of the loess plateau. Agric For Meteorol 151:854–863

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan BW, Alvarez-Clare S, Castle SC, Porder S, Reed SC, Schreeg L, Townsend AR, Cleveland CC (2014) Assessing nutrient limitation in complex forested ecosystems: alternatives to large-scale fertilization experiments. Ecology 95:668–681

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szukics U, Grigulis K, Legay N, Kastl EM, Baxendale C, Bardgett RD, Clément JC, Lavorel S, Schloter M, Bahn M (2019) Management versus site effects on the abundance of nitrifiers and denitrifiers in European mountain grasslands. Sci Total Environ 648:745–753

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Unger S, Máguas C, Pereira JS, David TS, Werner C (2010) The influence of precipitation pulses on soil respiration – assessing the ‘Birch effect’ by stable carbon isotopes. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1800–1810

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Unger S, Maguas C, Pereira JS, David TS, Werner C (2012) Interpreting post-drought rewetting effects on soil and ecosystem carbon dynamics in a Mediterranean oak savannah. Agric For Meteorol 154-155:9–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Sundert K et al (2019) Towards comparable assessment of the soil nutrient status across scales – review and development of nutrient metrics. Glob Chang Biol. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14802

  • Vicca S et al (2014) Can current moisture responses predict soil CO2 efflux under altered precipitation regimes? A synthesis of manipulation experiments. Biogeosciences 11:2991–3013

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vicca S, Gilgen AK, Camino Serrano M, Dreesen FE, Dukes JS, Estiarte M, Gray SB, Guidolotti G, Hoeppner SS, Leakey AD, Ogaya R, Ort DR, Ostrogovic MZ, Rambal S, Sardans J, Schmitt M, Siebers M, van der Linden L, van Straaten O, Granier A (2012) Urgent need for a common metric to make precipitation manipulation experiments comparable. New Phytol 195:518–522

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White CS, Moore DI, Craig JA (2004) Regional-scale drought increases potential soil fertility in semiarid grasslands. Biol Fertil Soils 40:73–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf K, Veldkamp E, Homeier J, Martinson GO (2011) Nitrogen availability links forest productivity, soil nitrous oxide and nitric oxide fluxes of a tropical montane forest in southern Ecuador. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 25

  • Xiang S-R, Doyle A, Holden PA, Schimel JP (2008) Drying and rewetting effects on C and N mineralization and microbial activity in surface and subsurface California grassland soils. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2281–2289

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zona D et al (2013) Fluxes of the greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) above a short-rotation poplar plantation after conversion from agricultural land. Agric For Meteorol 169:100–110

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO aspirant grant to KVS; FWO research grant to SV). The drought experiment was performed at the LTER-Austria Master site Stubai Valley and was fully supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ESS-project ClimLUC). Additional on-site infrastructure was provided by the University of Innsbruck. We thank the ClimLUC team of helpers for setting up and maintaining the field experiment.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Excellence PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Biology Department, University of Antwerp, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Kevin Van Sundert, Ivan Nijs & Sara Vicca

  2. Department of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Veronika Brune, Michael Bahn, Mario Deutschmann & Roland Hasibeder

Authors
  1. Kevin Van Sundert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Veronika Brune
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael Bahn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mario Deutschmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Roland Hasibeder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ivan Nijs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Sara Vicca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

KVS and SV planned the study as contribution to the ClimLUC-project, coordinated by MB and funded by the ESS-programme of Austrian Academy of Sciences. KVS performed the soil and plant related field and lab work, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. VB performed SCE and soil microclimate measurements in the field and prepared the respective data. RH supervised the drought and rewetting experiment. All authors contributed to the discussions and the writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin Van Sundert.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Lucas Silva.

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM1

(DOCX 6067 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Van Sundert, K., Brune, V., Bahn, M. et al. Post-drought rewetting triggers substantial K release and shifts in leaf stoichiometry in managed and abandoned mountain grasslands. Plant Soil 448, 353–368 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04432-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04432-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation