Work

Sensitivity of soil nutrient pools, but stability of microbial processes, under reduced rainfall and altered grazing management in northern mixed-grass prairie

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Nutrient cycling is a soil function that may be impacted by global change-induced droughts and alterations to grazing pressure. While belowground responses to drought are increasingly studied, the combined effects of altered rainfall and grazing on soil nutrients and microbial processes remain poorly understood. We tested how a two-year rainfall reduction interacted with a grazing intensity gradient during drought and two years of recovery to influence soil nutrient pools and microbial processes at two northern mixed-grass prairie sites. Rainfall reductions decreased soil available P and micronutrients between 10 and 50 %, but increased soil NO 3 − up to 4-fold during drought and into recovery years. In contrast, bacterial and fungal community compositions and extracellular enzyme activities were relatively resistant to rainfall reduction and grazing intensity treatments. Together, these results highlight the sensitivity of soil nutrient pools to drought, contrasted with the relative stability of belowground microbial processes in semi-arid rangelands in the face of drought and grazing management strategies.

Source: Soil Biology and Biochemistry

DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.110071

Authors: Kimberly J. Komatsu, Kurt Reinhart, Sarah Alley, Lauren M. Porensky, Kevin R. Wilcox, Sally E. Koerner

Institutions: University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

Subfield: Soil Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Life on land, Zero hunger, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,950