@misc{TsiafouliThebaultSgardelisetal., author = {Tsiafouli, Maria and Th{\´e}bault, Elisa and Sgardelis, Stefanos P. and Ruiter, Peter C. de and Putten, Wim H. van der and Birkhofer, Klaus and Hemerik, Lia and Vries, Franciska T. de and Bardgett, Richard D. and Brady, Mark Vincent and Bjornlund, Lisa and Bracht J{\o}rgensen, Helene and Christensen, S{\"o}ren and D'Hertefeldt, Tina and Hotes, Stefan and Hol, W. H. Gera and Frouz, Jan and Liiri, Mira and Mortimer, Simon R. and Set{\"a}l{\"a}, Heikki and Tzanopoulous, Joseph and Uteseny, Karoline and Pižl, V{\´a}clav and Stary, Josef and Wolters, Volkmar and Hedlund, Katarina}, title = {Intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity across Europe}, series = {Global Change Biology}, volume = {21}, journal = {Global Change Biology}, number = {2}, issn = {1365-2486}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.12752}, pages = {973 -- 985}, language = {en} } @misc{KundelBodenhausenBrachtJorgensenetal., author = {Kundel, Dominika and Bodenhausen, Natacha and Bracht J{\o}rgensen, Helene and Truu, Jaak and Birkhofer, Klaus and Hedlund, Katarina and M{\"a}der, Paul and Fliessbach, Andreas}, title = {Effects of simulated drought on biological soil quality, microbial diversity and yields under long-term conventional and organic agriculture}, series = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology}, volume = {96}, journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology}, number = {12}, issn = {1574-6941}, doi = {doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa205}, pages = {12}, abstract = {Drought and agricultural management influence soil microorganisms with unknown consequences for the functioning ofagroecosystems. We simulated drought periods in organic (biodynamic) and conventional wheat fields and monitoredeffects on soil water content, microorganisms and crops. Above the wilting point, water content and microbial respirationwere higher under biodynamic than conventional farming. Highest bacterial and fungal abundances were found inbiodynamically managed soils, and distinct microbial communities characterised the farming systems. Most biological soilquality parameters and crop yields were only marginally affected by the experimental drought, except for arbuscularmycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which increased in abundance under the experimental drought in both farming systems. AMFwere further strongly promoted by biodynamic farming resulting in almost three times higher AMF abundance underexperimental drought in the biodynamic compared with the conventional farming system. Our data suggest an improvedwater storage capacity under biodynamic farming and confirms positive effects of biodynamic farming on biological soilquality. The interactive effects of the farming system and drought may further be investigated under more substantialdroughts. Given the importance of AMF for the plant's water supply, more in-depth studies on AMF may help to clarify theirrole for yields under conditions predicted by future climate scenarios.}, language = {en} } @misc{BirkhoferFliessbachGavin‐Centoletal., author = {Birkhofer, Klaus and Fliessbach, Andreas and Gav{\´i}n-Centol, Mar{\´i}a Pilar and Hedlund, Katarina and Ingimarsd{\´o}ttir, Mar{\´i}a and Bracht J{\o}rgensen, Helene and Kozjek, Katja and Meyer, Svenja and Montserrat, Marta and S{\´a}nchez-Moreno, Sara and Moya-Lara{\~n}o, Jordi and Scheu, Stefan and Serrano-Carnero, Diego and Truu, Jaak and Kundel, Dominika}, title = {Conventional agriculture and not drought alters relationships between soil biota and functions}, series = {Scientific Reports}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, number = {11}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-021-03276-x}, abstract = {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.}, language = {en} }