+ 33 4 34 35 98 94 ecotron@cnrs.fr
SoilForEurope
2017-2018

Goals

To test whether cycles of dehydration-wetting affect the functioning of soil microbial communities and whether tree species diversity in turn impacts these effects.

Number of rooms used

  • 7

Project duration

  • 6 months

Predicting European forest soil biodiversity and its functioning under ongoing climate change

Researchers

Lauren Gillespie ; Stephan Hättenschwiler ; Alex Milcu ; Nathalie Fromin

Informations

CEFE

The experiment carried out in microcosms was based on 2 cycles of drought-rehydration (DRW) with soils of forest stands of different diversity (stands made up of one or three species of trees) and coming from four main types of forests. European (boreal forest, mixed semi-boreal forest composed of deciduous and coniferous trees, mixed mountain beech forest and Mediterranean thermophilic forest). Gas flow measurements were taken at key times during this 2-cycle DRW experiment to assess the resistance and recovery of these microbial populations to this climatic stress. This experience was part of the SoilForEUROPE project.