Cool work, led by @alexberlinches.bsky.social, out now in @globalchangebio.bsky.social, showing the importance of microbiome predator diversity (protists & bacterivorous nematodes) as indirect drivers of plant performance, partially overriding the effects of nitrogen addition!

Alejandro Berlinches de Gea@alexberlinches.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🎉 It’s finally published in Global Change Biology! Can soil predators help plants grow while reducing our reliance on fertilizers? 🌱🦠 We show that increasing soil microbiome predator diversity can strongly enhance plant biomass via shifts in soil bacterial communities. 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

Very nice to revive my collaboration with Paolina Garbeva from @niooknaw.bsky.social and, together with Yan Chen (陈晏), write an opinion paper on the pathways of soil chemical legacies in plant-soil feedbacks, out now in @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social. Hope to follow this up with some experiments!

Trends in Microbiology@cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The legacy of soil chemistry: a hidden manipulator driving plant–soil feedbacks

As member of the Campus Biodiversity Network, @uni-konstanz.de will participate in this spring's Campus Nature Challenge, from 24-27 April 2026. Joining this network and challenge is free and still possible until early April! More info: campusnaturechallenge.org

Two advertisements for PhD projects in our group at @uni-konstanz.de, including one in my recently funded project on the role of soil biodiversity in plant responses to drought. Deadline on January 12th. Sharing would be appreciated! More info here: www.biologie.uni-konstanz.de/kleunen/news...

In 2022, Louisa Neubauer set up her MSc-project to test whether two widely used antibiotics affect plant performance under ambient and drought conditions, either directly, or indirectly, through soil-community mediated effects. Results of this project are now out in Plant and Soil: bit.ly/4pC1IaC.

Antibiotics commonly applied in animal farming can alter soil biotic effects on plant functioning and responses to drought stress - Plant and Soil

Background Antibiotic pollution, caused by extensive antibiotic applications in industrial farming, threatens human and animal health, but may also affect plant functioning. However, it remains unknow...

bit.ly

Published last week in @oikosjournal.bsky.social: our paper on my last big experimental project from my previous position @uni-konstanz.de, in which we examined how plant diversity alters soil legacy effects of individual plants on plant-soil feedback interactions. doi.org/10.1002/oik..... (1/5)

Community diversity shapes persisting soil legacy effects of individual plant species on subsequent plant performance

Positive plant diversity–productivity relationships have partly been attributed to decreasing abundances of belowground specialist plant antagonists with increasing plant diversity, resulting in less...

doi.org

In a new MSc-thesis project, we are examining whether structural root traits can help to understand plant responses to the interactive effects of drought and eutrophication. We started to use relatively tall pots to allow more plasticity in root responses. Curious to see what will come out!

Last Wednesday we went on our yearly Alpine excursion as part of the Global Change Ecology course, this time to Flümserberg. Some unexpected rain and a couple of claps of thunder, but otherwise great fun, nice scenery and beautiful flora.

Some nice student projects currently going on at @uni-konstanz.de: we are comparing the effects of different drought treatments and microbial presence on root traits of Plantago and how common and rare native and non-native plants respond to nutrient availability and local soil communities.

New study, in which we combined data from a field survey and an altitudinal plant transplantation experiment to understand simultaneous responses of phyllosphere and rhizosphere communities to abiotic changes associated with time/seasonality and warming: doi.org/10.1111/gcb.....

Decoupling Responses of Phyllosphere and Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities to Spatiotemporal Environmental Changes

By integrating a comprehensive field survey with a transplantation experiment across elevations, we showed decoupling responses of rhizosphere and phyllosphere bacterial communities in three plant sp...

doi.org

Last week returned to @uni-konstanz.de for a new position as Research Associate in the Ecology Group. Good to be back! The forests around uni are still beautiful :)

Haven't been too active here yet, but will try to post more regularly from now on! To start with, some new research on the effects of microplastics on plant-soil feedbacks, led by Benedikt Speißer of @uni-konstanz.de: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Artificial particles and soil communities interactively change heterospecific plant-soil feedbacks - Plant and Soil

Background and aims Microplastics affect plant growth and change abiotic and biotic soil properties, such as soil structure and soil-community composition. However, how microplastics affect plant-soil...

link.springer.com

Happy to share some new research - results of a BSc-thesis project examining drought impacts on plant-soil interactions of native and non-native plant species. In short: drought affects non-natives more than natives, but the latter benefit less from soil communities. See: doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Contrasting responses of naturalized alien and native plants to native soil biota and drought

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

doi.org

We made a nice little hike around the Zugerberg yesterday. Some pretty stuff out there already!

Nice first day of the Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting yesterday: great plenary lectures, parallel sessions and a special evening programme, during which our minister of education, culture and science Prof. Robbert Dijkgraaf shared his views on the links between science, society and policy.