Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41355220›Full record

ArticleThe New phytologist2026

Legacies of consecutive summer droughts on soil-borne plant parasitic protists (Oomycota: Stramenopila and Phytomyxea: Rhizaria) and protistan consumers (Cercozoa: Rhizaria) along an experimental plant diversity gradient.

Marcel Dominik Solbach, Cynthia Albracht, Kenneth Dumack, Nico Eisenhauer, Anna Maria Fiore-Donno, Nils Heck, Anja Vogel, Cameron Wagg, Michael Bonkowski

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The New phytologist, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Marcel Dominik SolbachTerrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7073-7428
Cynthia AlbrachtDepartment of Soil Ecology, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ Halle, 06120, Halle, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8779-3749
Kenneth DumackTerrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8798-0483
Nico EisenhauerGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-6720
Anna Maria Fiore-DonnoTerrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6265-1907
Nils HeckTerrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674, Germany.
Anja VogelGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Cameron WaggDepartment of Geography, Remote Sensing Laboratories, University of Zürich, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9738-6901
Michael BonkowskiTerrestrial Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, Cologne, 50674, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2656-1183

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 202548816Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft FOR5000Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft FZT 118
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Increasing frequencies of severe summer droughts and plant diversity loss disrupt ecosystem functioning and stability of European grasslands. Understanding how these factors interact with pathogens is crucial. We investigated the effects of plant diversity and repeated summer drought on soil-borne parasites within a grassland biodiversity experiment. The experiment included plant communities ranging from 1 to 60 species, with a sub-experiment simulating annual droughts for 6 wk in summer over 9 yr. One year after the final drought period, we analyzed the diversity and community composition of two parasitic protistan taxa with many plant-pathogenic members, Oomycota (Stramenopila) and Phytomyxea (Rhizaria), as well as protistan consumers in the Cercozoa (Rhizaria) using amplicon sequencing. Both Oomycota and Cercozoa, including Phytomyxea, responded to plant species richness and drought, but not uniformly. Plant species-specific Oomycota were enriched under drought, while Phytomyxea and cercozoan consumers exhibited shifts in both enriched and reduced operational taxonomic units. No mitigating effect of plant diversity against the effects of drought was observed. Our findings suggest that repeated summer droughts weaken plant defense against protistan plant parasites, causing long-lasting soil legacy effects across plant communities varying in diversity and community composition, potentially threatening ecosystem stability and functioning under future climate conditions.

Indexed as

BiodiversityCercozoaDroughtsOomycetesPlantsRhizariaSeasonsSoilSoilbiodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationshipsbiodiversity lossCercozoaclimate changeJena ExperimentOomycotaplant parasitessoil biodiversity

Identifiers

PMID41355220
PMCPMC12825405

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.