Soil food web properties explain ecosystem services across European land use systems

Abstract

Intensive land use reduces the diversity and abundance of many soil biota, with consequences for the processes that they govern and the ecosystem services that these processes underpin. Relationships between soil biota and ecosystem processes have mostly been found in laboratory experiments and rarely are found in the field. Here, we quantified, across four countries of contrasting climatic and soil conditions in Europe, how differences in soil food web composition resulting from land use systems (intensive wheat rotation, extensive rotation, and permanent grassland) influence the functioning of soils and the ecosystem services that they deliver. Intensive wheat rotation consistently reduced the biomass of all components of the soil food web across all countries. Soil food web properties strongly and consistently predicted processes of C and N cycling across land use systems and geographic locations, and they were a better predictor of these processes than land use. Processes of carbon loss increased with soil food web properties that correlated with soil C content, such as earthworm biomass and fungal/bacterial energy channel ratio, and were greatest in permanent grassland. In contrast, processes of N cycling were explained by soil food web properties independent of land use, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and bacterial channel biomass. Our quantification of the contribution of soil organisms to processes of C and N cycling across land use systems and geographic locations shows that soil biota need to be included in C and N cycling models and highlights the need to map and conserve soil biodiversity across the world.

Biogeographic patterns in below-ground diversity in New York City's Central Park are similar to those observed globally

“…Here, we assess local-to global-scale distribution patterns of soil microbes, and the next steps should move beyond descriptions of the taxa found in soil, to understand the functions of these taxa in soil [1,2] and how they interact with one another [51]. By doing so, we will not only build on our basic understanding of these vital communities found below-ground, we may also learn how to actively manage these communities [52] to promote soil fertility, reduce soil pathogen loads and restore degraded lands.…”

Soil resilience and recovery: rapid community responses to management changes

“…There were significant increases in the abundance of mesofauna and soil bacteria g −1 dry soil (according to both 16S rRNA gene copy number and DNA yield) where bare fallow plots were planted with either wheat or grass. The relationship between plant cover and microbial biomass is well known but mostly compares chronosequences (Jangid et al 2011;de Vries et al 2013) rather than samples taken during the early stages of conversion.…”

“…The soil biota plays a crucial role in SOC dynamics, essential for maintaining the soil food web and cycling C and N. They are potentially affected by land use including plant cover, tillage and fertilizer inputs (de Vries et al 2013). Many studies show differences in communities from soils with contrasting treatments Garbeva et al 2008;Geisseler and Scow 2014;de Quadros et al 2012;Zhalnina et al 2013).…”

Efecto de dos abonos orgánicos en las cadenas tróficas del suelo cultivado con mora

“…Además, ha sido demostrado que los abonos orgánicos favorecen el desarrollo de la biota del suelo, lo cual es deseable en un agroecosistema, debido a los efectos positivos de los organismos edáficos en la producción vegetal (Altieri, 1999;Wardle, 1999;Liu et al, 2009;Kallenbach y Grandy, 2011;Steel et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2013). Sin embargo, en el suelo, los grupos de organismos no se organizan aisladamente, sino que forman cadenas tróficas (CT), las cuales son redes de interacciones presa-consumidor que se presentan entre grupos de organismos, poblaciones, o unidades tróficas agregadas (Smeding y de-Snoo, 2003;de-Vries et al, 2013). En el suelo, las CT son responsables de la disponibilización de nutrientes para las plantas, influyen directamente en la movilización de materia y energía en el suelo y, por consiguiente, son críticas para el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas (Wardle, 1999).…”

“…Las prácticas agrícolas disturban la organización espacial y temporal del suelo, afectando negativamente la estructura de las CT y modifican la dinámica de nutrientes (Moore, 1994;Noble y Ruaysoongnern, 2010;Tilston et al, 2010;de-Vries et al, 2013). La adición de abonos orgánicos al suelo es aceptada como una práctica amigable con el ambiente; sin embargo, existe la posibilidad de que su adición produzca alteraciones en las CT. Por ejemplo, ha sido demostrado que la adición de mulch de rastrojo de paja al suelo activa el canal de descomposición bacteriana en detrimento del canal de descomposición fúngico (Moore y Hunt, 1988;Moore, 1994).…”