Abstract
Introduction Reoccurring drought events can severely restrict forage production. However, experimentally drought stressed temperate forage grasslands have recently been reported to recover quickly after drought stress and re-wetting (DRW) and to be even more productive after drought than non-drought stressed control plots (Hofer et al., 2017; Hahn et al., in press). Although several studies show increased nutrient availability and microbial activity after DRW in grasslands (Bünemann et al., 2013; Sundert et al., 2020), an in-depth understanding if or how these mechanisms determine forage yield recovery is still missing. Methods This study examined the effect of a 2-month experimental summer drought under different nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications on the recovery of high-input Lolium perenne swards after re-wetting. Yield performance, physiology, nutrient availability and soil microbial activity were assessed over 2 years during and after the drought treatment. In addition, a post-drought transplantation experiment of control and DRW soil and plants withdrawn from the field was conducted to disentangle plant physiological and soil nutrient cycling effects on yield recovery after drought. Results Under all N applications, DRW outperformed the control yield in the field and showed higher N mineralization rates and higher soil N and K availabilities. Transplanted DRW plants showed longer but thinner leaves and decreased yields compared to control plants, irrespective of the soil’s DRW treatment. In contrast, DRW soils induced strongly increased L. perenne yields (on average +25%) compared to control soils. In summary, our data show that despite impaired plant growth after DRW, formerly drought stressed swards surpass control yields by profiting of higher mineralization rates and higher nutrient availability. References Bünemann EK, Keller B, Hoop D, Jud K, Boivin P, Frossard E (2013) Increased availability of phosphorus after drying and rewetting of a grassland soil: processes and plant use. Plant and Soil 370: 511–526 Hahn C, Lüscher A, Ernst-HaslerS, Suter M, Kahmen A (in press) Timing of drought in the growing season and strong legacy effects determine the annual productivity of temperate grasses in a changing climate. Biogeosciences. Hofer D, Suter M, Buchmann N, Lüscher A (2017) Nitrogen status of functionally different forage species explains resistance to severe drought and post-drought overcompensation. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 236: 312–322 Sundert KV, Brune V, Bahn M, Deutschmann M, Hasibeder R, Nijs I, Vicca S (2020) Post-drought rewetting triggers substantial K release and shifts in leaf stoichiometry in managed and abandoned mountain grasslands. Plant Soil 448: 353–368
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Drought and rewetting increased field yield under all N applications.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenne
Lolium perennee1 - Treatment
- DRWe0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- outperformede0
- Comparator
- controle0
- Setting
- fielde0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Under all N applications, DRW outperformed the control yield in the field”
e1“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
Drought and rewetting increased soil N mineralization rates.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee1
- Treatment
- DRWe0
- Outcome
- N mineralization ratese0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- controle0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“DRW outperformed the control yield in the field and showed higher N mineralization rates”
e1“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
Drought and rewetting increased soil N availability.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee2
- Treatment
- DRWe1
- Outcome
- soil Ne0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- controle1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“higher soil N and K availabilities”
e1“Under all N applications, DRW outperformed the control yield in the field”
e2“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
Drought and rewetting increased soil K availability.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee2
- Treatment
- DRWe1
- Outcome
- K availabilitiese0
- Direction
- highere0
- Comparator
- controle1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“higher soil N and K availabilities”
e1“Under all N applications, DRW outperformed the control yield in the field”
e2“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
Transplanted drought-rewetted plants had longer leaves.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee1
- Treatment
- DRWe0
- Outcome
- leavese0
- Direction
- longere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Transplanted DRW plants showed longer but thinner leaves”
e1“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
Transplanted drought-rewetted plants had thinner leaves.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee1
- Treatment
- DRWe0
- Outcome
- leavese0
- Direction
- thinnere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Transplanted DRW plants showed longer but thinner leaves”
e1“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
Transplanted drought-rewetted plants yielded less than controls regardless of soil treatment.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee1
- Treatment
- DRWe2
- Outcome
- yieldse0
- Direction
- decreasede0
- Comparator
- control plantse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“decreased yields compared to control plants, irrespective of the soil’s DRW treatment”
e1“Lolium perenne”
e2“Transplanted DRW plants”
Claim · model-written summary
Drought-rewetted soils raised Lolium yields by an average 25%.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee1
- Treatment
- DRW soilse0
- Outcome
- yieldse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- +25%e0
- Comparator
- control soilse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“DRW soils induced strongly increased L. perenne yields (on average +25%) compared to control soils”
e1“Lolium perenne”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors attribute post-drought yield surplus to greater mineralization and nutrient availability despite impaired plant growth.
- Taxon
- Lolium perenneLolium perennee1
- Treatment
- DRWe0
- Outcome
- surpass control yieldse0
- Qualifier
- higher mineralization rates and higher nutrient availabilitye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“despite impaired plant growth after DRW, formerly drought stressed swards surpass control yields by profiting of higher mineralization rates and higher nutrient availability”
e1“Lolium perenne”
The same questions in other papers
drought · yield · Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass)Positive and negative results
2 papers in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
- negative
- negative
- negative
6 papers more in this group
See all 10 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.