Speaker
Description
Our understanding of the intricate relationships between trees and their holobiont partners in the soil community is significantly expanding. However, the impact of trophic interactions on these biotic drivers is rarely explored. In particular, nematodes represent a wide range of trophic groups in the soil community, including plant parasites, bacterial and fungal feeders, predators and omnivores, making them an indicator of both direct and indirect influences on tree health. Furthermore, all these relationships will vary under climate change. Nematode community composition is greatly linked to abiotic conditions affecting soil moisture and resource allocation. Following abiotic and biotic stress such as drought and herbivory, nematodes cope differently according to their feeding guilds, which can affect above-belowground interactions, soil food webs and tree health.
This project, as part of the PhytOakmeter research unit, aims to investigate how soil nematode communities respond to drought conditions and how it may affect the oak tree holobiont directly as plant parasites and indirectly as free-living nematodes. To do this, we are using Quercus robur, a foundation tree species of European forests with highly diverse biotrophic interactions. Specifically, we are growing DF 159 Q. robur clones in controlled platforms in the Ecotrons with above/belowground herbivory as well as in the iDiv greenhouse manipulating soil biota abundance, all of which will be subjected to drought stress conditions. In addition, potted trees will be placed in the canopies of trees on three height levels in the semi-controlled Canopy Exposition platform. Lastly, we will observe nematode communities across the European Transect platform with a regional climate gradient. Utilizing controlled experimental platforms to natural field conditions, this project will be assessing the direct and indirect effects of soil nematodes on the oak tree holobiont in response to global change.
| Status Group | Doctoral Researcher |
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