Functional composition of plant communities determines the spatial and temporal stability of soil microbial properties in a long-term plant diversity experiment

Stable provisioning of ecosystem functions and services is crucial for human well‐being in a changing world. Two essential ecological components driving vital ecosystem functions in terrestrial ecosystems are plant diversity and soil microorganisms. In this study, we tracked soil microbial basal respiration and biomass over a time period of 12 years in a grassland biodiversity experiment (the Jena Experiment) and examined the role of plant...