Greater topoclimatic control of above‐ versus below‐ground communities

Mod, Heidi K.; Scherrer, Daniel; Cola, Valeria Di; Broennimann, Olivier; Blandenier, Quentin; Breiner, Frank T.; Buri, Aline; Goudet, Jérôme; Guex, Nicolas; Lara, Enrique; Mitchell, Edward A. D.; Niculita‐Hirzel, Hélène; Pagni, Marco; Pellissier, Loïc; Pinto‐Figueroa, Eric; Sanders, Ian R.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Seppey, Christophe V. W.; Ursenbacher, Sylvain; Yashiro, Erika; Meer, Jan Roelof van der; Guisan, Antoine

doi:10.1111/gcb.15330

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 130 publications

(191 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Unlike in the case of root feeding nematodes, the positive effect of temperature on epigeal invertebrate herbivores (Figure 4a and c) was apparently not mediated by changes in plant growth since plant shoot mass and leaf N concentration did not respond to temperature (Figure 4a). As epigeal invertebrates are able to move freely over large distances, they may be more readily able to choose their preferred thermal habitat compared with soil dwelling animals (see Mod et al, 2020), whose movement is more restricted within the soil.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil organic matter, rather than temperature, determines the structure and functioning of subarctic decomposer communities

Robinson

O’Gorman

Frey

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Terrestrial ecosystems in the Arctic are adapted to harsh abiotic conditions with low soil temperatures and nutrient levels, especially nitrogen (N), and are considered particularly vulnerable to climate change (Overland et al., 2020). As such, soil warming due to climate change could lead to more favorable soil conditions in the Arctic, reducing metabolic constraints on belowground organisms and increasing their activity, which should alter nutrient and carbon (C) dynamics (Nielsen & Wall, 2013). Such changes in the soil environment are intricately linked to aboveground processes as soil communities drive nutrient cycling, and nutrient availability in turn regulates plant and associated aboveand belowground consumer assemblages (reviewed in Bardgett et al.,

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil organic matter, rather than temperature, determines the structure and functioning of subarctic decomposer communities

Robinson

O’Gorman

Frey

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An important part (42%) of all the coprophagous beetle species of Switzerland is found in the Vaud Alps (info fauna-CSCF), reinforcing the status of biodiversity hotspot of this study region in the European Alps (Lassen and Savoia 2005). Future studies should investigate more of such under-sampled taxa, like other invertebrate groups, to allow more robust comparative studies and produce better global biodiversity assessments within a same study area (Mod et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the distribution of coprophagous beetle species in the Western Swiss Alps

Cosandey¹,

Broennimann²,

Guisan³

2022

AlpEnt

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coprophagous beetles are essential for fecal matter removal and are thus considered key ecosystem services providers. Yet, our knowledge of these beetles’ distribution and ecology remains very limited. Here, we used Species Distribution Models (SDM) to investigate the species-environment relationships (i.e. their niche) and predict the geographic distribution of coprophagous beetles in the Western Swiss Alps. We used our own sampled data and existing national data from the Swiss faunal database to calibrate, for each species, a regional and a national SDM respectively. In both models, the best predictors were temperature and rock cover proportion, while a soil characteristic (∂13C) indicating its organic content and texture was important in the regional models and precipitations in the Swiss models. The model performed better for species specialized on low or high altitudes than for generalist species occurring in a large altitudinal range. The model performances were neither influenced by the size, nor by the nesting behavior (laying eggs inside or below the excrements) of the species. We also showed that species richness decreased with altitude. This study opens new perspective for a better knowledge of coprophagous beetle’s ecology and a useful tool for their conservation in mountain regions.

show abstract

“…In all cases, deterministic processes drove community assembly (Ning et al, 2019) and as hypothesised, the diversity of each microbial group was explained/governed by a different set of variables, but contrary to our hypothesis, alpha and beta diversity of all groups were mainly associated with edaphic properties. Indeed, while soil properties were expected to weight more on the bacterial and archaeal assemblies (Shi et al, 2016, Delgado-Baquerizo et al, 2018, Starke et al, 2021, we had hypothesised that topoclimatic variables would be more important for fungal and protist communities (Mod et al, Bates et al, 2013, Tedersoo et al, 2014, Mod et al, 2020, Oliverio et al, 2020. However, fungi and protists had a high proportion of unexplained variance but the lowest MST values, suggesting that especially for these groups, some key variables structuring these communities were missing from the models, such as soil microclimate (Lembrechts et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of diversity and environmental niches of soil bacterial, archaeal, fungal and protist communities reveal niche divergences along environmental gradients in the Alps

Malard

Mod

Guex

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although widely used in ecology, comparative analyses of diversity and niche properties are still lacking for microorganisms, especially concerning niche variations. In this study, we identified important topoclimatic, edaphic, spatial and biotic drivers of the alpha and beta diversity of bacterial, archaeal, fungal and protist communities. Then, we calculated the niche breadth and position of each taxon along environmental gradients within all taxonomic groups, to determine how these vary within and between groups. Quantifying the niches of microbial taxa is necessary to then forecast how taxa and the communities they compose might respond to environmental changes. We found that edaphic properties were the most important drivers of both community diversity and composition for all microbial groups. Protists presented the largest niche breadths, followed by bacteria and archaea, with fungi displaying the smallest. Niche breadth generally decreased towards environmental extremes, especially along edaphic gradients, suggesting increased specialisation of microbial taxa in highly selective environments. Overall, we showed that microorganisms have well defined niches, as do macro-organisms, likely driving part of the observed spatial patterns of community variations. Assessing niche variation more widely in microbial ecology should open new perspectives, especially to tackle global change effects on microbes.

show abstract

Greater topoclimatic control of above‐ versus below‐ground communities

Cited by 18 publications

References 130 publications

Soil organic matter, rather than temperature, determines the structure and functioning of subarctic decomposer communities

Soil organic matter, rather than temperature, determines the structure and functioning of subarctic decomposer communities

Modeling the distribution of coprophagous beetle species in the Western Swiss Alps

Comparative analysis of diversity and environmental niches of soil bacterial, archaeal, fungal and protist communities reveal niche divergences along environmental gradients in the Alps

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About