Effect of various degrees of plant diversity on fungal community assembly and dynamics in a temperate grassland

Soil microbiota are key to facilitating ecosystem functioning and nutrient cycling, and are known to shape plant community composition and diversity. However, we know little about how microbiota, in turn, are affected by plant biodiversity outside the rhizosphere interface. Several studies showed the potential of plants, e.g. via root exudate emissions, to change microbiome assembly and functioning, which can be critical in sustaining ecosystem services provided by soils. We investigated the effects of plant diversity, plant functional trait richness, and identity on soil microbiome dynamics and functioning to better understand the role of the soil microbiome in the well-established positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.