The importance of plant-soil interactions for plant response to ongoing climate change (2022-2024)
Zuzana Münzbergová, Dina in’t Zandt, Tomáš Dostálek, Vít Latzel, Věroslava Hadincová, Zuzana Kolaříková, Anna Aldorfová, Eliška Kuťáková, Mária Šurinová
We aim to reveal whether plant-soil interactions affect plant responses to changing climate by studying interplay between climate, soil biota and plant adaptations in plant-soil feedback interactions. We use Festuca rubra, a dominant grass of mountain systems, i.e. systems highly endangered by climate change, as a model. We will study the effect of climate on soil biota associated with rhizosphere and endosphere of our model species along natural climatic gradients and in unique long-term climate manipulation studies. Then, we will assess the effect of soil biota origin and actual climate on performance of plants originating from different climates and assess how changes in soil biota composition modify plant performance. We will also explore the role of epigenetic memory of the plants and plant trait responses to climate in these interactions. The project will provide novel insights into the role of possible mismatch between changes in climate and plant and soil biota adaptations in plant species survival in changing conditions.