scholarly journals Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Guerra ◽  
Anna Heintz-Buschart ◽  
Johannes Sikorski ◽  
Antonis Chatzinotas ◽  
Nathaly Guerrero-Ramírez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Soil Organisms ◽  
Substantial Fraction ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
Blind Spots

AbstractSoils harbor a substantial fraction of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and governance. Here we identify and characterize the existing gaps in soil biodiversity and ecosystem function data across soil macroecological studies and >11,000 sampling sites. These include significant spatial, environmental, taxonomic, and functional gaps, and an almost complete absence of temporally explicit data. We also identify the limitations of soil macroecological studies to explore general patterns in soil biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with only 0.6% of all sampling sites having a non-systematic coverage of both biodiversity and function datasets. Based on this information, we provide clear priorities to support and expand soil macroecological research.

scholarly journals Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Guerra ◽  
Anna Heintz-Buschart ◽  
Johannes Sikorski ◽  
Antonis Chatzinotas ◽  
Nathaly Guerrero-Ramírez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function ◽  
Blind Spots

scholarly journals Chilean blind spots in soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
César Marín ◽  
Javiera Rubio ◽  
Roberto Godoy
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Global Studies ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
And Function ◽  
Blind Spots

Soil harbor up to a quarter of the worlds biodiversity, contributing to many ecosystem functions. It is of great importance to identify distribution patterns of soil organisms and their ecosystem functions to support their conservation and policy building. This has been recently analyzed at macroecological scales, but analyses at national/local scales are scarce. Here we identify and analyze the blind spots in soil taxa and ecosystem functioning data in continental Chile, through a Web of Science articles (1945-2020) search, and focusing on ten soil taxonomic groups and four ecosystem functions (nutrient cycling, decomposition, water infiltration, soil respiration). A total of 741 sampling sites were obtained from 239 articles. In 49.25% of the sites soil biodiversity was studied, while this percentage was 32.65% for ecosystem functions; in 18.10% of the sites both soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions were investigated at the same time, a surprisingly high percentage compared to global studies. By far, Bacteria/Fungi and nutrient cycling were the most investigated taxa and function, respectively. There is a significant number of soil taxa (Acari, Collembola, Nematoda, Formicoidea, Protista, Rotifera) represented by just a few sites concentrated in specific Chilean regions. Places like the central regions, the Atacama desert, and the Valdivian temperate forests present a proliferation of studies on soil Fungi, Bacteria, and nutrient cycling, reflecting historical interests of established research groups. Based on this research, we are identifying the causes of the data blind spots and invite the Chilean soil ecology community to propose ideas on how to fill them.

scholarly journals Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Barry ◽  
Stephen Widdicombe
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Elemental Cycling ◽  
Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function ◽  
The Stability ◽  
And Function

The biodiversity of the oceans, including the striking variation in life forms from microbes to whales and ranging from surface waters to hadal trenches, forms a dynamic biological framework enabling the flow of energy that shapes and sustains marine ecosystems. Society relies upon the biodiversity and function of marine systems for a wide range of services as basic as producing the seafood we consume or as essential as generating much of the oxygen we breathe. Perhaps most obvious is the global seafood harvest totalling over 100 Mt yr–1 (82 and 20 Mt in 2008 for capture and aquaculture, respectively; FAO 2009) from fishing effort that expands more broadly and deeper each year as fishery stocks are depleted (Pauly et al. 2003). Less apparent ecosystem services linked closely to biodiversity and ecosystem function are waste processing and improved water quality, elemental cycling, shoreline protection, recreational opportunities, and aesthetic or educational experiences (Cooley et al. 2009). There is growing concern that ocean acidification caused by fossil fuel emissions, in concert with the effects of other human activities, will cause significant changes in the biodiversity and function of marine ecosystems, with important consequences for resources and services that are important to society. Will the effects of ocean acidification on ecosystems be similar to those arising from other environmental perturbations observed during human or earth history? Although changes in biodiversity and ecosystem function due to ocean acidification have not yet been widely observed, their onset may be difficult to detect amidst the variability associated with other human and non-human factors, and the greatest impacts are expected to occur as acidification intensifies through this century. In theory, large and rapid environmental changes are expected to decrease the stability and productivity of ecosystems due to a reduction in biodiversity caused by the loss of sensitive species that play important roles in energy flow (i.e. food web function) or other processes (e.g. ecosystem engineers; Cardinale et al. 2006). In practice, however, most research concerning the biological effects of ocean acidification has focused on aspects of the performance and survival of individual species during short-term studies, assuming that a change in individual performance will influence ecosystem function.

scholarly journals Mapping Soil Biodiversity in Europe and the Netherlands

Soil Systems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michiel Rutgers ◽  
Jeroen P. van Leeuwen ◽  
Dirk Vrebos ◽  
Harm J. van Wijnen ◽  
Ton Schouten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Soil Organisms ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Soil Attributes ◽  
Global Soil ◽  
Coarse Information

Soil is fundamental for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, but our knowledge about soil organisms and the habitat they provide (shortly: Soil biodiversity) is poorly developed. For instance, the European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity and the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas contain maps with rather coarse information on soil biodiversity. This paper presents a methodology to map soil biodiversity with limited data and models. Two issues were addressed. First, the lack of consensus to quantify the soil biodiversity function and second, the limited data to represent large areas. For the later issue, we applied a digital soil mapping (DSM) approach at the scale of the Netherlands and Europe. Data of five groups of soil organisms (earthworms, enchytraeids, micro-arthropods, nematodes, and micro-organisms) in the Netherlands were linked to soil habitat predictors (chemical soil attributes) in a regression analysis. High-resolution maps with soil characteristics were then used together with a model for the soil biodiversity function with equal weights for each group of organisms. To predict soil biodiversity at the scale of Europe, data for soil biological (earthworms and bacteria) and chemical (pH, soil organic matter, and nutrient content) attributes were used in a soil biodiversity model. Differential weights were assigned to the soil attributes after consulting a group of scientists. The issue of reducing uncertainty in soil biodiversity modelling and mapping by the use of data from biological soil attributes is discussed. Considering the importance of soil biodiversity to support the delivery of ecosystem services, the ability to create maps illustrating an aggregate measure of soil biodiversity is a key to future environmental policymaking, optimizing land use, and land management decision support taking into account the loss and gains on soil biodiversity.

scholarly journals Vegetation structure determines the spatial variability of soil biodiversity across biomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Durán ◽  
Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Soil Organisms ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Soil Age ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Composition Changes

AbstractThe factors controlling the spatial variability of soil biodiversity remain largely undetermined. We conducted a global field survey to evaluate how and why the within-site spatial variability of soil biodiversity (i.e. richness and community composition) changes across global biomes with contrasting soil ages, climates and vegetation types. We found that the spatial variability of bacteria, fungi, protists, and invertebrates is positively correlated across ecosystems. We also show that the spatial variability of soil biodiversity is mainly controlled by changes in vegetation structure driven by soil age and aridity. Areas with high plant cover, but low spatial heterogeneity, were associated with low levels of spatial variability in soil biodiversity. Further, our work advances the existence of significant, undescribed links between the spatial variability of soil biodiversity and key ecosystem functions. Taken together, our findings indicate that reductions in plant cover (e.g., via desertification, increases in aridity, or deforestation), are likely to increase the spatial variability of multiple soil organisms and that such changes are likely to negatively impact ecosystem functioning across global biomes.

scholarly journals The Selective Effects of Environmental Change on the Functional Diversity of Soil Decomposers

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1650
Author(s):  
Herman A. Verhoef
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Soil Organisms ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Complementary Resource ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Facilitative Interactions

Whether decomposition can be affected by the biodiversity of soil organisms is an important question. Biodiversity is commonly expressed through indices that are based on species richness and abundances. Soil processes tend to saturate at low levels of species richness. A component of biodiversity is functional diversity, and we have shown that the absence of the influence of species richness on decomposition switched into a positive relationship between fauna diversity and decomposition when we expressed biodiversity in terms of interspecific functional dissimilarity. Communities with functionally dissimilar species are characterized by complementary resource use and facilitative interactions among species. It is suggested that the effects of environmental changes on ecosystem functions such as decomposition can be better understood if we have more knowledge about the selective effect of these changes on specific facets of soil biodiversity, such as functional diversity.

scholarly journals Diversity and asynchrony in soil microbial communities stabilizes ecosystem functioning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Wagg ◽  
Yann Hautier ◽  
Sarah Pellkofer ◽  
Samiran Banerjee ◽  
Bernhard Schmid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Soil Microbial Diversity ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Soil Microbial

AbstractTheoretical and empirical advances have revealed the importance of biodiversity for stabilizing ecosystem functions through time. Yet despite the global degradation of soils, how the loss of soil microbial diversity can de-stabilizes ecosystem functioning is unknown. Here we experimentally quantified the contribution diversity and the temporal dynamics in the composition of soil microbial communities to the temporal stability of four key ecosystem functions related to nutrient and carbon cycling. Soil microbial diversity loss reduced the temporal stability of all ecosystem functions and was particularly strong when over 50% of microbial taxa were lost. The stabilizing effect of soil biodiversity was linked to asynchrony among microbial taxa whereby different soil fungi and bacteria were associated with different ecosystem functions at different times. Our results emphasize the need to conserve soil biodiversity in order to ensure the reliable provisioning of multiple ecosystems functions that soils provide to society.

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