Changes in belowground biodiversity during ecosystem development

Abstract

Belowground organisms play critical roles in maintaining multiple ecosystem processes, including plant productivity, decomposition, and nutrient cycling. Despite their importance, however, we have a limited understanding of how and why belowground biodiversity (bacteria, fungi, protists, and invertebrates) may change as soils develop over centuries to millennia (pedogenesis). Moreover, it is unclear whether belowground biodiversity changes during pedogenesis are similar to the patterns observed for aboveground plant diversity. Here we evaluated the roles of resource availability, nutrient stoichiometry, and soil abiotic factors in driving belowground biodiversity across 16 soil chronosequences (from centuries to millennia) spanning a wide range of globally distributed ecosystem types. Changes in belowground biodiversity during pedogenesis followed two main patterns. In lower-productivity ecosystems (i.e., drier and colder), increases in belowground biodiversity tracked increases in plant cover. In more productive ecosystems (i.e., wetter and warmer), increased acidification during pedogenesis was associated with declines in belowground biodiversity. Changes in the diversity of bacteria, fungi, protists, and invertebrates with pedogenesis were strongly and positively correlated worldwide, highlighting that belowground biodiversity shares similar ecological drivers as soils and ecosystems develop. In general, temporal changes in aboveground plant diversity and belowground biodiversity were not correlated, challenging the common perception that belowground biodiversity should follow similar patterns to those of plant diversity during ecosystem development. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that ecological patterns in belowground biodiversity are predictable across major globally distributed ecosystem types and suggest that shifts in plant cover and soil acidification during ecosystem development are associated with changes in belowground biodiversity over centuries to millennia.

Successional dynamics of soil fungal diversity along a restoration chronosequence post‐coal mining

“…Second, evidence for a soil–plant‐microbiome feedback was demonstrated by a significant association between fungal community composition and the vegetation attributes: total tree density and basal area on a site. These findings support a body of research suggesting that there is a strong correlation between belowground microbial biota and vegetation and edaphic properties (Roy‐Bolduc et al ; Detheridge et al ; Delgado‐Baquerizo et al ). Although we did not ascertain the nature of these interactions, the association also highlights that soil fungi perform important ecological roles as saprotrophs, pathogens, and symbionts that are crucial for maintaining sustainable ecosystems (Talbot et al ).…”

“…Soil fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes as decomposers, mutualists, and pathogens. These processes drive cycling of carbon and other elements in forest soils, mediate mineral nutrition and heavy metal tolerance in plants, alleviate carbon limitations of other soil organisms, ameliorate plant resistance to pathogenic organisms, improve soil health, and enhance water dynamics and structural integrity of the soil (Tedersoo et al ; Delgado‐Baquerizo et al ). Despite these important roles, fungi are rarely monitored in rehabilitation and restoration projects (Poisot et al ; Avis et al ).…”

Effects of plant functional group removal on structure and function of soil communities across contrasting ecosystems

“…; Delgado‐Baquerizo et al . ). This decoupling may have weakened the effect of PFG loss on soil biota, and thus reduced the context‐dependent effects of biodiversity loss on soil functioning among contrasting ecosystems.…”

Soil biodiversity and biogeochemical function in managed ecosystems

“…In manipulated systems, high soil biodiversity has been shown to increase plant productivity by enhancing nutrient uptake and reducing nutrient loss (Wagg et al 2014;Bender and Van der Heijden 2015). However, during long-term ecosystem development no relationship was observed between soil biodiversity and plant diversity, which were mainly driven by changes in plant cover and soil pH (Delgado-Baquerizo et al 2019).…”