Soil biodiversity and carbon cycling: a review and synthesis of studies examining diversity–function relationships

Abstract

Biodiversity and carbon (C) cycling have been the focus of much research in recent decades, partly because both change as a result of anthropogenic activities that are likely to continue. Soils are extremely speciesrich and store approximately 80% of global terrestrial C. Soil organisms play a key role in C dynamics and a loss of species through global changes could influence global C dynamics. Here, we synthesize findings from published studies that have manipulated soil species richness and measured the response in terms of ecosystem functions related to C cycling (such as decomposition, respiration and the abundance or biomass of decomposer biota) to evaluate the impact of biodiversity loss on C dynamics. We grouped studies where one or more biotic groups had been manipulated to include a richness of ≤10 species or >10 species in order to reflect 'low' and 'high' extents of diversity manipulations. There was a positive relationship between species richness and C cycling in 77-100% of low-diversity experiments, even when the richness of just one biotic group was manipulated, whereas positive relationships occurred less frequently in studies with greater richness (35-64%). Moreover, when positive relationships were observed, these often indicated functional redundancy at low extents of diversity or that community composition had a stronger influence on C cycling than did species richness. Initial reductions in soil species richness resulting from global changes are unlikely to alter C dynamics significantly unless particularly influential species are lost. However, changes in community composition, and the loss of species with an ability to facilitate specialized soil processes related to C cycling, as a result of global changes, may have larger impacts on C dynamics.

Understanding and Enhancing Soil Biological Health: The Solution for Reversing Soil Degradation

“…The overall economic benefit of soil biodiversity to ecosystem services, and thus well-functioning soil resources, was estimated to be 1.5 quadrillion U.S. dollars [64]. In recent publications, biodiversity was also shown to influence global C [65] and greenhouse gas budgets [66], enhance water quality [67], moderate soil organic matter decomposition [68,69], regulate nutrient retention and availability [69], and determine the susceptibility of soil to invasion by a pathogen [70]. Synthesis papers by Kremen [71] and Hooper et al [72] have summarized the established linkage between biological communities and ecosystems services, while emphasizing the need to understand biological complexity to properly manage the systems, particularly in agroecosystems.…”

“…Agricultural management effects on soil health, in turn, influence the type and magnitude of ecosystem services provided by the soil biota. One measurement of soil health is biodiversity, which has been shown to influence global C [65] and greenhouse gas budgets [66], water quality [67], SOM decomposition [68,69], nutrient retention and availability [69], and the susceptibility of soil to invasion by a pathogen [70]. Many assessments of soil health based on measurements of soil microorganisms have relied on estimates of total biomass and activity.…”

Influence of Cadmium and Glucose on Soil Microbial Communities

“…So a number of authors are of the opinion that there is an excessive amount of specimen in ecosystem, which can perform the same functions (Nannipieri et al, 2003). In this case, after a certain time, which is required for activating species resistant to the impact, the community characteristics aligned with the reference performances (Bowles et al, 2014;Nielsen et al, 2011). At the same time, some publications give evidence in that the loss of some key species may have unexpected effects (Hol et al, 2010).…”

Abiotic and Biotic Soil Characteristics in Old Growth Forests and Thinned or Unthinned Mature Stands in Three Regions of Oregon

“…Mesofauna, primarily fungivores, are well known to be critical links in the nutrient cycle, although studies have found that species richness is more important in low diversity than high diversity faunal communities [48]. A relatively high availability of essential resources, and of biotic richness that may contribute to that availability, could explain why many OG forests tend to remain C sinks despite a buildup of respiratory biomass [49].…”