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@PHDTHESIS{Kaloterakis:1050545,
      author       = {Kaloterakis, Nikolaos},
      title        = {{F}rom {S}oil {L}egacy to {W}heat {Y}ield {D}ecline:
                      {S}tudying the {P}lant-{S}oil {F}eedback {M}echanisms in
                      {W}heat {R}otations},
      volume       = {686},
      school       = {Bonn},
      type         = {Dissertation},
      address      = {Jülich},
      publisher    = {Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag},
      reportid     = {FZJ-2026-00305},
      isbn         = {978-3-95806-874-2},
      series       = {Schriften des Forschungszentrums Jülich Reihe Energie $\&$
                      Umwelt / Energy $\&$ Environment},
      pages        = {XXIX, 188},
      year         = {2025},
      note         = {Dissertation, Bonn, 2025},
      abstract     = {Winter wheat is one of the most important crops cultivated
                      globally. The yield of winter wheat is stagnating in several
                      areas of the world since the 1990s. Continuous winter wheat
                      cultivation is associated with a marked yield decline that
                      is often attributed to the proliferation of the soil-borne
                      pathogen Gaeumannomyces tritici (take-all). However, it is
                      unlikely that this yield decline is solely due to take-all,
                      but rather it is the outcome of more complex
                      soil-microbe-plant interactions that drive plant-soil
                      feedbacks in the rhizosphere of winter wheat. The soil
                      legacy of the preceding crop is a major determinant of the
                      growth and development of the succeeding plant, and it can
                      be expected that the rotational position of winter wheat
                      will influence the productivity of the following winter
                      wheat. The aim of this thesis was to analyze plant-soil
                      feedbacks in successive winter wheat rotations and better
                      understand the observed yield decline. We specifically aimed
                      at investigating how the rotational position of winter wheat
                      affects the microbial communities and the associated
                      nutrient cycling and enzymatic activity in the soil, and how
                      the root system of winter wheat responds to these changes,
                      thereby affecting plant growth and productivity. Finally, we
                      looked into the potential of compost and plant
                      growth-promoting rhizobacteria to compensate for the growth
                      reduction in continuous winter wheat rotations and provide
                      farmers with a sustainable toolbox to safeguard plant
                      productivity and food production. We developed and used
                      novel mesocosms for growing winter wheat and employing
                      isotopic tracers to enable the quantification of important
                      rhizosphere processes and assess above- and belowground
                      carbon allocation, nitrogen uptake and water uptake from
                      various soil layers. We found that there was much higher
                      initial nitrate availability in the soil of winter wheat
                      after oilseed rape at the germination and tillering growth
                      stage compared to continuous winter wheat, especially in the
                      subsoil. This was associated with nitrogen immobilization by
                      the microbial community, which was associated with distinct
                      root plastic responses and reduced winter wheat growth early
                      in the growing season. Soil legacy of the preceding crop
                      also had a strong influence on soil enzymatic activity and
                      nitrogen cycling as indicated by changes in the activity of
                      nitrogen-related enzymes and the abundance of microbial
                      nitrogen-cycling genes. We also found a higher and sustained
                      belowground allocation of freshly assimilated carbon at the
                      flowering and grain ripening growth stages of winter wheat
                      growing after oilseed rape that was available for microbial
                      use, revealing a higher rhizodeposition in nonsuccessive
                      winter wheat rotations. Non-successive winter wheat
                      converted more of the freshly assimilated carbon into
                      biomass and achieved higher yields than continuous winter
                      wheat. Winter wheat after oilseed rape exhibited distinct
                      patterns in shaping its microbial community, with a higher
                      abundance of taxa involved in important nutrient
                      mineralization processes and capable of conferring plant
                      protection against important soil pathogens. Application of
                      both compost and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria caused
                      a positive plant-soil feedback in continuous winter wheat
                      cultivation, compensating the growth reduction and yield
                      decline. This work thus demonstrated that yield decline in
                      successive winter wheat rotations is dependent on several
                      key rhizosphere processes and that soil legacy of the
                      preceding crop is an important driver of the productivity of
                      the succeeding plant. By understanding this phenomenon, we
                      can design resilient, productive and multifunctional farming
                      systems that can cope with the increasing adversities of
                      climate change without compromising yield production and
                      food security.},
      cin          = {IBG-3},
      cid          = {I:(DE-Juel1)IBG-3-20101118},
      pnm          = {2173 - Agro-biogeosystems: controls, feedbacks and impact
                      (POF4-217)},
      pid          = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-2173},
      typ          = {PUB:(DE-HGF)3 / PUB:(DE-HGF)11},
      urn          = {urn:nbn:de:0001-2601271048169.512365216362},
      doi          = {10.34734/FZJ-2026-00305},
      url          = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1050545},
}