TY - GEN A1 - Kundel, Dominika A1 - Bodenhausen, Natacha A1 - Bracht Jørgensen, Helene A1 - Truu, Jaak A1 - Birkhofer, Klaus A1 - Hedlund, Katarina A1 - Mäder, Paul A1 - Fliessbach, Andreas T1 - Effects of simulated drought on biological soil quality, microbial diversity and yields under long-term conventional and organic agriculture T2 - FEMS Microbiology Ecology N2 - 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. KW - microbial diversity KW - rainout shelter KW - PLFA KW - amplicon-based sequencing KW - DOK trial KW - soil organic carbon Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa205 SN - 1574-6941 VL - 96 IS - 12 ER -