Rooting for function: community-level fine-root traits relate to many ecosystem functions

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2025 · New Phytologist

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70606· OSTI ID:3030894

Barry, Kathryn ^[1]; Hennecke, Justus ^[2]; Weigelt, Alexandra ^[2]; Bergmann, Joana ^[3]; Bruelheide, Helge ^[4]; Freschet, Gregoire ^[5]; Iversen, Colleen ^[6]; Kuyper, Thomas ^[7]; Laughlin, Daniel C. ^[8]; McCormack, M. Luke ^[9]; Roumet, Catherine ^[10]; Plas, Fons ^[11]; Ruijven, Jasper ^[7]; Wijsmuller, Rachel ^[7]; Auge, Harald ^[12]; Eisenhauer, Nico ^[13]; Haase, Josephine ^[12]; Nock, Charles ^[14]; Oelmann, Yvonne ^[15]; Wilcke, Wolfgang ^[16] ; Mommer, Liesje ^[7]

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1. Utrecht University, Netherlands
2. Leipzig University, Germany
3. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research
4. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany
5. Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station
6. ORNL
7. Wageningen University, Netherlands
8. University of Wyoming, Laramie
9. The Morton Arboretum
10. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive Montpellier, France
11. University of Leipzig, Germany
12. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Germany
13. German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
14. University of Alberta, Canada
15. Institute of Applied Physics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, DE
16. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany

Humans are driving biodiversity change, which also alters community functional traits. However, how changes in the functional traits of the community alter ecosystem functions—especially belowground—remains an important gap in our understanding of the consequences of biodiversity change. We test hypotheses for how the root traits of the root economics space (composed of the collaboration and conservation gradients) are associated with proxies for ecosystem functioning across grassland and forest ecosystems in both observational and experimental datasets from 810 plant communities. First, we assessed whether community-weighted means of the root economics space traits adhered to the same trade-offs as species-level root traits. Then, we examined the relationships between community-weighted mean root traits and aboveground biomass production, root standing biomass, soil fauna biomass, soil microbial biomass, decomposition of standard and plot-specific material, ammonification, nitrification, phosphatase activity, and drought resistance. We found evidence for a community collaboration gradient but not for a community conservation gradient. Yet, links between community root traits and ecosystem functions were more common than we expected, especially for aboveground biomass, microbial biomass, and decomposition. These findings suggest that changes in species composition, which alter root trait means, will in turn affect critical ecosystem functions.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 3030894
• Journal Information: New Phytologist, Journal Name: New Phytologist Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 248
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English