1. The root to stability – the role of plant roots in ecosystem response to climate change BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship proposal Franciska de Vries

2. Climate change threatens terrestrial ecosystems and their functioning -Altered primary productivity -Widespread changes in plant community composition With devastating consequences for food production and the delivery of other ecosystem services  central to BBSRC strategic priorities Grasslands provide many of these ecosystem services Reichstein et al. (2013) Nature

3. -root exudates control the recovery of soil microbes after drought (De Vries et al. 2012 Oecologia) -root traits are linked to microbial community composition (De Vries et al. in prep) Modified from Kutschera (1960) Until recently, most climate change research has had an entirely aboveground focus… …treating the soil as a black box Many unknowns about how roots and their exudates drive microbial community composition and C and N cycling Knowledge about the response of plant- microbe interactions to climate change is of crucial importance for securing a sustainable food production and climate mitigation But plant-soil interactions are crucial for processes of C and N cycling, which underpin sustainable food production and climate mitigation!

4. Evidence from plant and microbial communities that communities dominated by slow-growers (K-strategists) are more resistant to climate change (De Vries et al. 2012 Nature Climate Change; De Vries & Shade 2013 Frontiers in Microbiology) Hypothesis Slow-growing plants with conservative root traits will enhance ecosystem stability by selecting for microbial communities dominated by K-strategists, and by their continuous supply of root exudates Plant communities dominated by K- strategists are linked to microbial communities dominated by K-strategists (De Vries et al. 2012 Ecology Letters)

5. In semi-natural grasslands, to elucidate how plant roots, via their root traits and root exudates, modify short-term and long-term ecosystem response to drought and warming: 1. Plant physiological responses (Experiments 1 & 2) 2. Microbial community responses (Experiments 3, 4, 5) 3. Plant community responses (Experiments 4 & 5) Link root exudates to root traits and ecological strategies Response of roots and exudates to climate change Mechanisms through which plant roots affect response of microbes Role of individual plant species in ecosystem response Role of plant ecological strategies in ecosystem response Project objective

6. -Answer novel, fundamental questions about the stability of ecosystems under climate change -Underpin future policy and crop breeding strategies for securing sustainable food production and protecting biodiverse grasslands under climate change This work will: -Allow me to stay on the forefront of this fast moving area -Open up future research avenues: mechanisms of acclimation and adaptation to climate change fundamental controls on root exudation It will also:

7. “We fund world-class bioscience research that helps to tackle major challenges such as the impact of climate change, a healthier old age, and sustainable food production, land use and energy production” - BBSRC