Dataset Information

Above- and belowground biodiversity jointly tighten the P cycle in agricultural grasslands.

ABSTRACT: Experiments showed that biodiversity increases grassland productivity and nutrient exploitation, potentially reducing fertiliser needs. Enhancing biodiversity could improve P-use efficiency of grasslands, which is beneficial given that rock-derived P fertilisers are expected to become scarce in the future. Here, we show in a biodiversity experiment that more diverse plant communities were able to exploit P resources more completely than less diverse ones. In the agricultural grasslands that we studied, management effects either overruled or modified the driving role of plant diversity observed in the biodiversity experiment. Nevertheless, we show that greater above- (plants) and belowground (mycorrhizal fungi) biodiversity contributed to tightening the P cycle in agricultural grasslands, as reduced management intensity and the associated increased biodiversity fostered the exploitation of P resources. Our results demonstrate that promoting a high above- and belowground biodiversity has ecological (biodiversity protection) and economical (fertiliser savings) benefits. Such win-win situations for farmers and biodiversity are crucial to convince farmers of the benefits of biodiversity and thus counteract global biodiversity loss.

SUBMITTER: Oelmann Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8295381 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Above- and belowground biodiversity jointly tighten the P cycle in agricultural grasslands.

Oelmann Yvonne Y Lange Markus M Leimer Sophia S Roscher Christiane C Aburto Felipe F Alt Fabian F Bange Nina N Berner Doreen D Boch Steffen S Boeddinghaus Runa S RS Buscot François F Dassen Sigrid S De Deyn Gerlinde G Eisenhauer Nico N Gleixner Gerd G Goldmann Kezia K Hölzel Norbert N Jochum Malte M Kandeler Ellen E Klaus Valentin H VH Kleinebecker Till T Le Provost Gaëtane G Manning Peter P Marhan Sven S Prati Daniel D Schäfer Deborah D Schöning Ingo I Schrumpf Marion M Schurig Elisabeth E Wagg Cameron C Wubet Tesfaye T Wilcke Wolfgang W

Nature communications 20210721 1

Experiments showed that biodiversity increases grassland productivity and nutrient exploitation, potentially reducing fertiliser needs. Enhancing biodiversity could improve P-use efficiency of grasslands, which is beneficial given that rock-derived P fertilisers are expected to become scarce in the future. Here, we show in a biodiversity experiment that more diverse plant communities were able to exploit P resources more completely than less diverse ones. In the agricultural grasslands that we s ...[more]

PMID: 34290234

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Project description:Land management is known to have consequences for biodiversity; however, our synthetic understanding of its effects is limited due to highly variable results across studies, which vary in the focal taxa and spatial grain considered, as well as the response variables reported. Such synthetic knowledge is necessary for management of agroecosystems for high diversity and function.To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the importance of scale-dependent effects of land management (LM) (pastures vs. meadows), on plant and soil microbe diversity (fungi and bacteria) across 5 study sites in Central Germany. Analyses included diversity partitioning of species richness and related biodiversity components (i.e., density of individuals, species-abundance distribution, and spatial aggregation) at two spatial grains (α- and γ-scale, 1 m2 and 16 km2, respectively).Our results show scale-dependent patterns in response to LM to be the norm rather than the exception and highlight the importance of measuring species richness and its underlying components at multiple spatial grains.Our outcomes provide new insight to the complexity of scale-dependent responses within and across taxonomic groups. They suggest that, despite close associations between taxa, LM responses are not easily extrapolated across multiple spatial grains and taxa. Responses of biodiversity to LM are often driven by changes to evenness and spatial aggregation, rather than by changes in individual density. High-site specificity of LM effects might be due to a variety of context-specific factors, such as historic land management, identity of grazers, and grazing regime. Synthesis and applications: Our results suggest that links between taxa are not necessarily strong enough to allow for generalization of biodiversity patterns. These findings highlight the importance of considering multiple taxa and spatial grains when investigating LM responses, while promoting management practices that do the same and are tailored to local and regional conditions.

Project description: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.

Dataset Information

Above- and belowground biodiversity jointly tighten the P cycle in agricultural grasslands.

Publications

Above- and belowground biodiversity jointly tighten the P cycle in agricultural grasslands.

Similar Datasets

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