A recent report of widespread declines in soil organic C (SOC) in the UK over the 10\uffe2\uff80\uff9325 years until the early 2000s has focussed attention on the importance of resampling previously characterized sites to assess long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term trends in SOC contents and the importance of soils as a potentially volatile and globally significant reservoir of terrestrial C. We have used two sets of long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term experimental plots which have been under constant and known management for over a century and for which historical data exist that allow comparison over recent decades to determine what, if any, changes in SOC content have occurred. The plots used are the Palace Leas (PL) Meadow Hay Plots in north\uffe2\uff80\uff90east England (UK) established in 1897, and from the Park Grass (PG) Continuous Hay experiment established in 1856 at Rothamsted in south\uffe2\uff80\uff90east England. Collectively, these plots represent the only grassland sites in the UK under long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term management where changes in SOC over several decades can be assessed, and are probably unique in the world. The plots have received different manure and fertilizer treatment and have been under known management for at least 100 years. In 1982, total SOC contents were determined for the 0\uffe2\uff80\uff9327\uffe2\uff80\uff83cm layer of six of the PL plots using measurements of SOC concentrations, bulk density and soil depth. In 2006, the same six PL plots were resampled and SOC contents determined again. Four of the plots showed no net change in SOC content, but two plots showed net loss of SOC of 15% and 17% (amounting to decreases of 18 and 15\uffe2\uff80\uff83t\uffe2\uff80\uff83C\uffe2\uff80\uff83ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921) since 1982. However, these differences in total SOC content were in a similar range to the variations in bulk density (6\uffe2\uff80\uff9331%) with changing soil water content. In 1959, the soil masses and SOC concentrations to 23\uffe2\uff80\uff83cm depth were measured on six PG plots with fertilizer and manure treatments corresponding closely with those measured on PL. In 2002, the SOC concentrations on the same plots were measured again. On three of the PG plots, SOC concentrations had declined by 2\uffe2\uff80\uff9310%, but in the other three it had increased by 4\uffe2\uff80\uff938% between 1959 and 2002. If it is assumed that the soil bulk density had not changed over this period, the losses of SOC from the top soils ranged range from 10 to 3\uffe2\uff80\uff83t\uffe2\uff80\uff83C\uffe2\uff80\uff83ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921, while the gains ranged from 4 to 7\uffe2\uff80\uff83t\uffe2\uff80\uff83C\uffe2\uff80\uff83ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921. When the differences with time in SOC contents for the six PL and the six PG plots were examined using paired t\uffe2\uff80\uff90tests, that is, regarding the plots as two sets of six replicate permanent grasslands, there were no significant differences between 1982 and 2006 for the PL plots or between 1959 and 2002 for the PG plots. Thus, these independent observations on similar plots at PL and PG indicate there has been no consistent decrease in SOC stocks in surface soils under old, permanent grassland in England in recent decades, even though meteorological records for both sites indicate significant warming of the soil and air between 1980 and 2000. Because the potential influences of changes in management or land use have been definitively excluded, and measured rather than derived bulk densities have been used to convert from SOC concentrations to SOC amounts, our observations question whether for permanent grassland in England, losses in SOC in recent decades reported elsewhere can be attributed to widespread environmental change.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Ecology", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "biodiversity conservation", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Environmental Sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01809.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01809.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01809.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01809.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2009-06-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.14845588", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:23:34Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Comparison and evaluation of sampling and eDNA metabarcoding protocols to assess soil biodiversity in Belgian LUCAS Biopoints", "description": "Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is emerging as a novel tool for monitoring soil biodiversity. Soil biodiversity, critical for soil health and ecosystem services, is currently under-monitored due to the lack of standardized and efficient methods. We assessed whether refinements to sampling and molecular protocols could improve soil biodiversity detection and monitoring.\u00a0Comparing the 2018 LUCAS soil biodiversity protocols with newly developed national methods, we tested sampling topsoil (0-10 cm) versus deeper layers, larger soil sample sizes for DNA-extraction, taking more subsamples for composite soil samples, and alternative primer sets across 9 Belgian Biopoints included in the LUCAS 2022 survey. The results suggest that significantly more species can be detected in upper soil layers, including the forest floor, while the diversity of taxa and eDNA in the 10\u201330 cm soil layer is insufficient for annelids and arthropods to serve as indicators of ecological change. Additionally, comparison of the universal eukaryotic primers (18S) with primer sets tailored to soil mesofauna and macrofauna, showed that universal 18S primers provide limited resolution for Collembola and Annelida. Overall, the analyses suggest that vertical soil stratification (with two sampling depths) has a greater influence on the captured diversity of soil mesofauna and macrofauna than the number of subsamples, and that the highest diversity is recovered when surface sampling (0\u201310 cm topsoil and forest floor) is combined with a greater number of subsamples and a larger sampled area. With refinement and standardization, eDNA metabarcoding, combined with optimized sampling protocols, could become a powerful and efficient tool for monitoring soil biodiversity in European soils. Description of the files This dataset includes interactive Krona taxonomy charts to visually summarize the diversity and relative read abundance of detected taxa across sampling locations and protocols. Each ring in the chart represents a taxonomic level, with the relative width of segments reflecting the proportion of reads assigned to specific taxa at that level. These charts enable exploration of taxonomic composition and allow for comparisons between the different sampled locations, sampling protocols tested, and primer sets tested. All krona charts were made in R using psadd::plot_krona. To correct for uneven sequencing depth per sample, datasets were rarefied using a random subsampling method to 27913, 31655, 1856, 19728, and 19632 reads for Annelida (Olig01), Collembola (Coll01), Fungi (ITS9mun/ITS4ngsUni), protists (18S), and Archaea (SSU1ArF/SSU1000ArR) respectively. Fauna datasets that are subsets of the total data recovered by a primer set designed to target many different phyla (e.g. 18S) were not rarefied prior to generating the krona plots. ejp_soil_annelida_olig01_27913.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Annelida. The data was generated using the group-specific Olig01 primer set and rarefied to 27,913 reads per sample. ejp_soil_collembola_coll01_31655.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Collembola. The data was generated using the group-specific Coll01 primer set and rarefied to 31,655 reads per sample. ejp_soil_arthropoda_inse01.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Arthropoda (Insecta, Arachnida, Chilopoda, Diplura, and Malacostraca). The data was generated using the Inse01 primer set. ejp_soil_fungi_its9mun_its4ngsuni_1856.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Fungi. The data was generated using the ITS9mun and ITS4ngsUni primer set and rarefied to 1,856 reads per sample. ejp_soil_protists_18s_19728.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for protists. The data was generated using the eukaryotic 18S primer set and rarefied to 19,728 reads per sample. ejp_soil_archaea_ssu1arf_ssu1000arr_19632.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Archaea. The data was generated using the SSU1ArF and SSU1000ArR primer set and rarefied to 19,632 reads per sample. ejp_soil_annelida_18s.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Annelida. The data was generated using the eukaryotic 18S primer set. ejp_soil_collembola_18s.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Collembola. The data was generated using the eukaryotic 18S primer set. ejp_soil_arthropoda_18s.html contains the interactive taxonomy charts for Arthropoda. The data was generated using the eukaryotic 18S primer set. ejp_soil_metadata.csv contains metadata for the samples in this study. It includes information about the sampling locations, the sampling protocols used, the sampling depth (cm), land use type, EUNIS habitat classification, and the LUCAS-ID for each sample.", "keywords": ["soil monitoring", "metabarcoding", "LUCAS", "soil biodiversity", "eDNA"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Lambrechts, Sam, Deflem, Io Sarah, Sensalari, Cecilia, De Backer, Silke, De Beer, Berdien, Neyrinck, Sabrina, De Vos, Bruno,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14845588"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.14845588", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.14845588", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.14845588"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2025-02-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.7041393", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:24:24Z", "type": "Other", "title": "QBS-ar and QBS-ar_BF index toolbox for biodiversity assessment of microarthropods community in soil", "description": "This toolbox contains a proposal and detailed instructions for the standardization of the QBS-ar index procedure. The QBS-ar index (Parisi, 2001; Parisi et al., 2005) is an index aimed at assessing soil-dwelling microarthropod communities in relation to their soil adaptation level. The core of QBS-ar index principle is: the higher is soil quality, the higher will be the number of microarthropod groups well adapted to soil habitats living there. Soil quality here stands for good stability, high organic matter content, and good biodiversity level. Worth of notice, QBS-ar is not comprehensive of the whole soil biodiversity or whole soil quality.\u00a0 For each sample to be assessed with the QBS-ar method, three different samplings are performed 5-10 meters apart (Menta et al., 2018), obtaining three subsamples (replicates) that are considered representative of an area homogeneous for slope and vegetation. 1-page guidelines for sampling and extraction were detailed in file\u00a0\u20181.QBS-ar sampling and extraction guidelines.pdf\u2019.\u00a0 The functional characteristics for soil adaptation of microarthropods are the reduction of visual structures as microphthalmia or even anophthalmia, the reduction or loss of pigmentation and dehydration adaptations (thinner cuticle, shorter setas or chaeta loss), appendage reduction (as shorter and/or smaller antennae, legs, furca), miniaturization, streamlined body form. Starting from these principles, soil organisms could be divided into a discrete set of Biological Forms (BFs, eco-morpho-types) according to their morphological adaptation to soil (Menta et al., 2018); in the EXCALIBUR and EJP-Minotaur projects, CREA Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, in collaboration with the National QBS-ar working group (D\u2019Avino et al., 2021), recognized no less than 54 different BFs, 16 of which were classified as less frequent. Each BF is shortly described and\u00a0 associated with a score, the so-called Eco-Morphological Index (EMI), which ranges from 1 to 20 in proportion to the increasing degree of the soil adaptation of microarthropods. As reported by Parisi et al. (2005), some taxa show only one single EMI value because all species belonging to these taxa report the same adaptation level to the soil. Other groups show a range of EMIs in relation to the different adaptation levels of species to the soil. In general, eu-edaphic forms get EMI = 20, hemi-edaphic get an EMI rating proportionate to their degree of soil adaptation, while epedaphic (epigean) forms get EMI score = 1 (Menta et al., 2018). In QBS-ar whenever two eco-morphological forms are present in the same group, the final score is determined by the higher EMI. In other words, the most highly adapted microarthropods belonging to a group determine the overall EMI score for that group (Parisi et al 2005). This statement is not valid for the QBS-ar_BF proposed here, for which every biological form concurs to the calculation of QBS-ar_BF index, regardless of whether or not it belongs to the same group (i.e. class or order). Moreover, to assess variability between subsamples (replicates) an index based on spectral analysis (D\u2019Avino, 2019) is proposed. The file\u00a0\u20182.Sheet for QBS-ar record and calculation_v2.xlsx\u2019\u00a0provides the selection of 54 most common BFs in European soils and should be used as a template for data registration during the microarthropods identification and count at the stereomicroscope. As outlined in the \u201cREADME\u201d sheet of the excel file, the user should register the abundance of each BF and other sampling-related information, and the template will automatically perform a series of calculations and will format several output sheets. In particular it calculates: mean abundance of microarthropods and relative class of abundance,\u00a0QBS-ar, QBS-ar_BF, variability index community based on spectral analysis.\u00a0 One example of the compilated sheet is reported as file\u00a0\u20182a.Filled_template_example_v2.pdf\u2019. The sampling was carried out during MINOTAUR project, the example was implemented starting from file\u00a0\u20182. Sheet for QBS-ar record and calculation.xlsx\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0The file '2.1.Sheet for QBS-ar record and calculations_v2.1.xlsx' contains updates to the previous version: In the \u2018QBS-ar sheet\u2019 the formulas for calculating Density n.m-2, Class n.m-2, Density n.kg-1 and S1 in Pauropoda_20 have been corrected In the \u2018\u201dExport_Subsamples\u201d sheet, the formula of Pauropoda_20 has been corrected In the \u2018Export_MINOTAUR\u2019 sheet the formulas for Hymenoptera_AB, Hymenoptera_Number_taxa, Diplopoda_AB and Diplopoda_Number_taxa have been corrected In the \u2018Codelist\u2019 sheet, Pest_control_method_Insecticide was added between Main_Pest_control_methods The file '2.Sheet for QBS-ar record and calculation. vers_3.xlsx' is the latest version of the sheet. It contains several updates regarding the metadata that can be entered, updated descriptions of the biological forms and their common name. The order of the biological forms has been changed from the previous version: Hymenoptera-L_10 has been moved between the rare forms and Symphyla_20 has been moved between Chilopoda_20 and Pauropoda_20. One example of the compilated sheet is reported as file\u00a0\u20182a.Filled_template_example_v3.pdf\u2019. This file also contains a new printable sheet called 'Data_report' that automatically summarizes the values of the QBS indices, diversity indices (Shannon, Evenness, Simpson and Richness) and abundances per square meter of the different biological forms along with the graphs. The collection, merging and organization of data from the precompiled sheet could be a cumbersome task, especially for surveys with many different samples. The user would need to copy-paste each row in the \u201cExport_Sample\u201d or \u201cExport_Subsample\u201d sheets (from file 2.) to a new file, to perform overall analysis; an error-prone operation. To ease this process, we have compiled a short R script that can be found in this submission as the third file\u00a0\u20183.QBS-ar data merging_v2.R\u2019. By using the script, the user would automatically obtain three files (csv and/or xlsx, that will be stored in a \u201cResults\u201d folder) resulting from the merging of any number of QBS precompiled templates collected in a folder:\u00a0\u00a0 1. The result of the merge of \u201cExport_Sample\u201d sheets\u00a0 2. The result of the merge of \u201cExport_Subsample\u201d sheets\u00a0\u00a0 3. The result of the merge of\u00a0 'Export_MINOTAUR' sheets\u00a0 The latest version of the script is \u201c3.QBS-ar data merging_v3.R\u201d It is recommended to use this version for the file \u201c2.Sheet for QBS-ar record and calculation. vers_3.xlsx\u201d \u00a0 Cited reference\u00a0 D\u2019Avino, L., Menta, C., Jacomini, C., Cassi, F., L\u2019Abate, G., La Terza, A., Staffilani, F., Pocaterra, F., Piazzi, M., Parisi, V. (2021). The Italian skill network of Soil Biological Quality assessed by microarthropods\u2019 community, in: FAO. 2021. Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity \u2013Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity 19\u201322 April 2021. Proceedings. Rome. ISBN [978-92-5-135218-2] pages 182-188. Available at\u00a0https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7374en\u00a0(accessed 11/11/2024)\u00a0 D\u2019Avino 2019. Soil mesofauna QBS-ar index in: Malusa et al. Common guidelines for analytical methods.\u00a0\u00a0https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/817946/results/it\u00a0(Accessed 11/11/2024)\u00a0 Menta, C., Conti, F. D., Pinto, S., Bodini, A. (2018). Soil Biological Quality index (QBS-ar): 15 years of application at global scale. Ecological Indicators, 85, 773-780.\u00a0 Parisi V. (2001). La qualit\u00e0 biologica del suolo. Un metodo basato sui microartropodi [In Italian] Acta Naturalia de L\u2019Ateneo Parmense 37, 97-106.\u00a0 Parisi, V., Menta, C., Gardi, C., Jacomini, C., Mozzanica, E. (2005). Microarthropod communities as a tool to assess soil quality and biodiversity:\u00a0 a new approach in Italy. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 105 (12), 323-333.", "keywords": ["Data manipulation", "Mesofauna", "QBS data template", "Soil biodiversity", "Soil quality"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7041393"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5281/zenodo.7041393", "name": "item", "description": "10.5281/zenodo.7041393", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5281/zenodo.7041393"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2024-11-11T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.7910/DVN/MIYBQE", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:25:21Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Ecogeographic land characterization map of the SADC region", "description": "With the aim of planning for the in situ and ex situ conservation of priority crop wild relatives (CWR) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a gap analysis at intra-specific level (i.e. ecogeographic diversity level used as a proxy of genetic diversity), was carried out. For this purpose, a generalist Ecogeographic Land Characterization (ELC) map for the SADC region was created using the ELC mapas tool of CAPFITOGEN (http://www.capfitogen.net/, Parra-Quijano et al., 2008, 2016) based on 16 ecogeographic variables from three different components (four geophysic variables, seven edaphic, and five bioclimatic; see the list below) at a resolution of 2.5 arc minutes (approximately 4.5 km at the equator). The Calinski-Harabasz (1974) criterion was applied to obtain an objective number of clusters for each bioclimatic, edaphic and geophysic multivariate analysis. The ELC map was then clipped to the SADC countries using ArcGIS 10.4.1 (ESRI, 2016). A total of 16 ecogeographic categories were identified in the SADC region with distinct ecogeographic characteristiscs (see file 'ELC_SADC_region_statistics.xlsx'). The files made available here include: the raster file of the ELC map of the SADC region (which is composed of 16 different files) and an Excel file which describes the statistics (i.e. average, median, maximum, minimum and standard deviation) of each ecogeographic category present in the map ('ELC_SADC_region_statistics.xlsx').<br> <br><b>Variables:</b> Geophysic: altitude (m) (WorldClim 1.4, http://worldclim.org), slope (\u00b0), latitude (decimal degrees), longitude (decimal degrees). Edaphic: topsoil organic carbon (% weight), topsoil pH (H2O) [-log(H+)], topsoil silt fraction (% weight), topsoil sand fraction (% weight), topsoil gravel content (% vol.), topsoil clay fraction (% weight), topsoil TEB (total exchangeable bases) (cmol/kg) (HWS Database, http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/External-World-soil-database/). Bioclimatic: annual precipitation (bio_12) (mm), precipitation seasonality (coefficient of variation) (bio_15) (mm), isothermality (bio_2/bio_7) (*100) (bio_3), max temperature of warmest month (bio_5) (\u00b0C), min temperature of coldest month (bio_6) (\u00b0C) (WorldClim 1.4, http://worldclim.org).<br> <br><b>References:</b> Calinski T and Harabasz J (1974) A dendrite method for cluster analysis. Communications in Statistics, 3(1): 1\u201227. ESRI (2016) ArcGIS Desktop release Version 10.4.1. Environmental Systems Research Institute. Redlands. CA. Parra-Quijano M, Draper D and Torres E (2008) Ecogeographical representativeness in crop wild relative ex situ collections. In: Maxted N, Ford\u2010Lloyd BV, Kell SP, Iriondo JM, Dulloo E and Turok J (eds), Crop wild relative conservation and use, pp. 249\u201373. Wallingford: CAB International. Parra-Quijano M, Torres E, Iriondo JM, L\u00f3pez F and Molina A (2016) CAPFITOGEN tools user manual, version 2.0. Rome, Italy: International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO. Available at: http://www.capfitogen.net/en/access/manuals/ [Accessed July 2021].", "keywords": ["Agricultural Sciences", "PLANNING", "PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES", "AGROBIODIVERSITY", "GENETIC DIVERSITY AS RESOURCE"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Magos Brehm, Joana", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/MIYBQE"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.7910/DVN/MIYBQE", "name": "item", "description": "10.7910/DVN/MIYBQE", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.7910/DVN/MIYBQE"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1854/LU-8732814", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:26:06Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-11-09", "title": "Litter quality, mycorrhizal association, and soil properties regulate effects of tree species on the soil fauna community", "description": "Abstract Forest management, including selection of appropriate tree species to mitigate climate change and sustain biodiversity, requires a better understanding of factors that affect the composition of soil fauna communities. These communities are an integral part of the soil ecosystem and play an essential role in forest ecosystem functioning related to carbon and nitrogen cycling. Here, by performing a field study across six common gardens in Denmark, we evaluated the effects of tree species identity and mycorrhizal association (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) and ectomycorrhiza (ECM)) on soil fauna (meso- and macrofauna) taxonomic and functional community composition by using diversity, abundance, and biomass as proxies. We found that (1) tree species identity and mycorrhizal association both showed significant effects on soil fauna communities, but the separation between community characteristics in AM and ECM tree species was not entirely consistent; (2) total soil fauna abundance, biomass, as well as taxonomic and functional diversity were generally significantly higher under AM tree species, as well as lime, with higher litter quality (high N and base cation and low lignin:N ratio); (3) tree species significantly influenced the properties of litter, forest floor, and soil, among which litter and/or forest floor N, P, Ca, and Mg concentrations, soil pH, and soil moisture predominantly affected soil fauna abundance, biomass, and taxonomic and functional diversity. Our results from this multisite common garden experiment provide strong and consistent evidence of positive effects of tree species with higher litter quality on soil fauna communities in general, which helps to better understand the effects of tree species selection on soil biodiversity and its functions related to forest soil carbon sequestration.", "keywords": ["DECOMPOSITION", "EARTHWORMS", "Diversity", "PH", "FOREST FLOOR", "Common garden experiment", "Soil meso- and macrofauna", "DIVERSITY", "Biology and Life Sciences", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "NITROGEN", "CARBON", "Taxonomic group", "FUNCTIONAL TRAITS", "Abundance", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "Functional group", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "BIODIVERSITY", "ABUNDANCE", "Biomass"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/1854/LU-8732814"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Geoderma", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "1854/LU-8732814", "name": "item", "description": "1854/LU-8732814", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/1854/LU-8732814"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-02-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ecy.1513", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:53Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2016-07-02", "title": "Land Use Intensification In The Humid Tropics Increased Both Alpha And Beta Diversity Of Soil Bacteria", "description": "AbstractAnthropogenic pressures on tropical forests are rapidly intensifying, but our understanding of their implications for biological diversity is still very limited, especially with regard to soil biota, and in particular soil bacterial communities. Here we evaluated bacterial community composition and diversity across a gradient of land use intensity in the eastern Amazon from undisturbed primary forest, through primary forests varyingly disturbed by fire, regenerating secondary forest, pasture, and mechanized agriculture. Soil bacteria were assessed by paired\uffe2\uff80\uff90end Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments (V4 region). The resulting sequences were clustered into operational taxonomic units (OTU) at a 97% similarity threshold. Land use intensification increased the observed bacterial diversity (both OTU richness and community heterogeneity across space) and this effect was strongly associated with changes in soil pH. Moreover, land use intensification and subsequent changes in soil fertility, especially pH, altered the bacterial community composition, with pastures and areas of mechanized agriculture displaying the most contrasting communities in relation to undisturbed primary forest. Together, these results indicate that tropical forest conversion impacts soil bacteria not through loss of diversity, as previously thought, but mainly by imposing marked shifts on bacterial community composition, with unknown yet potentially important implications for ecological functions and services performed by these communities.
", "keywords": ["Rios de composi\u00e7\u00e3o de comunidade bacteriana", "2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "0303 health sciences", "550", "Bacteria", "Biodiversidade subterr\u00e2nea", "Agriculture", "Biodiversity", "Forests", "15. Life on land", "Below\u2010ground biodiversity", "High\u2010throughput sequencing", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "RNA", " Ribosomal", " 16S", "Sequenciamento de alto rendimento", "Rivers of bacterial community composition", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/82660/1/de_Carvalho_et_al_2016_raw_pdf.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1513"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/ecy.1513", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/ecy.1513", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/ecy.1513"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-09-09T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.09.017", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:17:18Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2005-10-25", "title": "The Impact Of Sika Deer Grazing On The Vegetation And Infauna Of Arne Saltmarsh", "description": "Arne saltmarsh, an RSPB reserve, is situated in Poole Harbour on the English south coast. In recent years, there has been concern about possible changes in the suitability of the site for Redshank (Trigna totanus) due to sika deer (Cervus nippon) grazing. In order to assess these changes, 50 plots were established in three different locations: 20 in grazed areas, 20 in ungrazed areas and 10 fenced enclosures. Deer grazing was found to significantly affect structural and species diversity of the saltmarsh vegetation. Spartina anglica dominated in ungrazed areas whilst Salicornia ramosissima and, to a lesser extent, Puccinellia maritima dominated in grazed sites. In grazed areas the vegetation cover was significantly lower, as was vegetation height and volume. In addition, significant changes were observed in the root biomass, which was lower in grazed areas. Infaunal diversity was generally low throughout the survey area. However, significant variations were observed. Invertebrates abundance was more abundant in grazed plots than in ungrazed plots, and least abundant in fenced plots. The study indicated that in its current condition, localised areas of Arne saltmarsh do not provide adequate habitat requirements for Tringa totanus.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Conservation of Natural Resources", "Deer", "Population Dynamics", "Animals", " Wild", "Biodiversity", "Feeding Behavior", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "England", "Species Specificity", "Animals", "Ecosystem", "Environmental Monitoring"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Justine Hannaford, Eunice Pinn, Anita Diaz,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.09.017"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Marine%20Pollution%20Bulletin", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.09.017", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.09.017", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.09.017"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2006-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.ppees.2011.12.001", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:17:21Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-12-23", "title": "Stability Of Above-Ground And Below-Ground Processes To Extreme Drought In Model Grassland Ecosystems: Interactions With Plant Species Diversity And Soil Nitrogen Availability", "description": "Extreme drought events have the potential to cause dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and function, but the controls upon ecosystem stability to drought remain poorly understood. Here we used model systems of two commonly occurring, temperate grassland communities to investigate the shortterm interactive effects of a simulated 100-year summer drought event, soil nitrogen (N) availability and plant species diversity (low/high) on key ecosystem processes related to carbon (C) and N cycling. Whole ecosystem CO2 fluxes and leaching losses were recorded during drought and post-rewetting. Litter decomposition and C/N stocks in vegetation, soil and soil microbes were assessed 4 weeks after the end of drought. Experimental drought caused strong reductions in ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem CO2 exchange, but ecosystem fluxes recovered rapidly following rewetting irrespective of N and species diversity. As expected, root C stocks and litter decomposition were adversely affected by drought across all N and plant diversity treatments. In contrast, drought increased soil water retention, organic nutrient leaching losses and soil fertility. Drought responses of above-ground vegetation C stocks varied depending on plant diversity, with greater stability of above-ground vegetation C to drought in the high versus low diversity treatment. This positive effect of high plant diversity on above-ground vegetation C stability coincided with a decrease in the stability of microbial biomass C. Unlike species diversity, soil N availability had limited effects on the stability of ecosystem processes to extreme drought. Overall, our findings indicate that extreme drought events promote post-drought soil nutrient retention and soil fertility, with cascading effects on ecosystem C fixation rates. Data on above-ground ecosystem processes underline the importance of species diversity for grassland function in a changing environment. Furthermore, our results suggest that plant\u2013soil interactions play a key role for the short-term stability of above-ground vegetation C storage to extreme drought events.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "changement climatique", "Plant-soil interactions", "fertilit\u00e9 des sols", "Biodiversit\u00e9 et Ecologie", "flux de co2", "interaction plante- sol", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Soil fertility", "\u00e9cosyst\u00e8me", "01 natural sciences", "changement climatique;flux de CO2;\u00e9cosyst\u00e8me;interaction plante- sol;fertilit\u00e9 des sols", "6. Clean water", "Biodiversity and Ecology", "[SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "CO 2 fluxes", "13. Climate action", "Climate change", "Ecosystem services", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "flux de CO2", "[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "Productivity"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02649087/file/Stability_of_above_ground_1.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2011.12.001"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Perspectives%20in%20Plant%20Ecology%2C%20Evolution%20and%20Systematics", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.ppees.2011.12.001", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.ppees.2011.12.001", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.ppees.2011.12.001"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-06-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/eap.3066", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2024-11-26", "title": "Wheat field earthworms under divergent farming systems across a European climate gradient", "description": "AbstractEarthworms are a key faunal group in agricultural soils, but little is known on how farming systems affect their communities across wide climatic gradients and how farming system choice might mediate earthworms' exposure to climate conditions. Here, we studied arable soil earthworm communities on wheat fields across a European climatic gradient, covering nine pedo\uffe2\uff80\uff90climatic zones, from Mediterranean to Boreal (S to N) and from Lusitanian to Pannonian (W to E). In each zone, 20\uffe2\uff80\uff9325 wheat fields under conventional or organic farming were sampled. Community metrics (total abundance, fresh mass, and species richness and composition) were combined with data on climate conditions, soil properties, and field management and analyzed with mixed models. There were no statistically discernible differences between organic and conventional farming for any of the community metrics. The effects of refined arable management factors were also not detected, except for an elevated proportion of subsurface\uffe2\uff80\uff90feeding earthworms when crop residues were incorporated. Soil properties were not significantly associated with earthworm community variations, which in the case of soil texture was likely due to low variation in the data. Pedo\uffe2\uff80\uff90climatic zone was an overridingly important factor in explaining the variation in community metrics. The Boreal zone had the highest mean total abundance (179\uffe2\uff80\uff89individuals\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922) and fresh mass (86\uffe2\uff80\uff89g\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922) of earthworms while the southernmost Mediterranean zones had the lowest metrics (<1\uffe2\uff80\uff89individual\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922 and <1\uffe2\uff80\uff89g\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922). Within each field, species richness was low across the zones, with the highest values being recorded at the Nemoral and North Atlantic zones (mean of 2\uffe2\uff80\uff933 species per field) and declining from there toward north and south. No litter\uffe2\uff80\uff90dwelling species were found in the southernmost, Mediterranean zones. These regional trends were discernibly related to climate, with the community metrics declining with the increasing mean annual temperature. The current continent\uffe2\uff80\uff90wide warming of Europe and related increase of severe and rapid onsetting droughts will likely deteriorate the living conditions of earthworms, particularly in southern Europe. The lack of interaction between the pedo\uffe2\uff80\uff90climatic zone and the farming system in our data for any of the earthworm community metrics may indicate limited opportunities for alleviating the negative effects of a warming climate in cereal field soils of Europe.
As the development of nature\uffe2\uff80\uff90based solutions (NbS) increases globally, it is important to ensure that projects meet the objective of delivering benefits for biodiversity, alongside tackling societal challenges. However, this is challenging because most NbS projects do not directly monitor ecological outcomes, and those that do often focus on a limited set of metrics.
We identify the most informative and feasible above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground ecological metrics for monitoring the ecological outcomes of NbS. We identify possible biodiversity and soil health metrics using a structured non\uffe2\uff80\uff90systematic literature review, and rank these using a scoring system to assess their informativeness and feasibility for monitoring.
Metrics are categorised into compositional, structural, and functional aspects of biodiversity, and biological, physical and chemical aspects of soil health. We group biodiversity and soil health metrics into Tier 1 (the most informative and feasible metrics), Tier 2 (informative metrics with some limitations in scope or feasibility) and Future metrics (highly informative metrics which are currently less feasible to monitor). Tier 1 metrics collectively address multiple aspects of biodiversity and soil health and are the highest priority for NbS project assessments. For biodiversity, 9 Tier 1, 6 Tier 2 and 15 Future metrics were identified, and for soil health there are 11 Tier 1, 6 Tier 2 and 5 Future metrics.
We identify existing standardised methodologies, threshold and reference values for monitoring these metrics, although in many cases, these are not available.
Solution . Our study provides practitioners with a framework for selecting optimum metrics for assessing above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground ecological outcomes of NbS relevant to the location in which they are being implemented. We summarise the relevance of each metric to biodiversity or soil health and provide standardised methodologies for collecting data to support ecological monitoring protocols for NbS projects. The information on each metric is freely available as a searchable online database designed for UK practitioners, but with wider applicability.
Gypsum soils in the Mediterranean Basin house large numbers of edaphic specialists that are adapted to stressful environments. The evolutionary history and standing genetic variation of these taxa have been influenced by the geological and paleoclimatic complexity of this area and the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90standing effect of human activities. However, little is known about the origin of Mediterranean gypsophiles and the factors affecting their genetic diversity and population structure.METHODSUsing phylogenetic and phylogeographic approaches based on microsatellites and sequence data from nuclear and chloroplast regions, we evaluated the divergence time, genetic diversity, and population structure of 27 different populations of the widespread Iberian gypsophile Lepidium subulatum throughout its entire geographic range.
RESULTSLepidium subulatum diverged from its nearest relatives ~3 million years ago, and ITS and psbA/matK trees supported the monophyly of the species. These results suggest that both geological and climatic changes in the region around the Plio\uffe2\uff80\uff90Pleistocene promoted its origin, compared to other evolutionary processes. We found high genetic diversity in both nuclear and chloroplast markers, but a greater population structure in the chloroplast data. These results suggest that while seed dispersal is limited, pollen flow may be favored by the presence of numerous habitat patches that enhance the movement of pollinators.
CONCLUSIONSDespite being an edaphic endemic, L. subulatum possesses high genetic diversity probably related to its relatively old age and high population sizes across its range. Our study highlights the value of using different markers to fully understand the phylogeographic history of plant species.More diverse crop rotations have been promoted for their potential to remediate the range of ecosystem services compromised by biologically simplified grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90based agroecosystems, including increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). We hypothesized that functional diversity offers a more predictive means of characterizing the impact of crop rotations on SOC concentrations than species diversity per se. Furthermore, we hypothesized that functional diversity can either increase or decrease SOC depending on its associated carbon (C) input to soil. We compiled a database of 27 cropping system sites and 169 cropping systems, recorded the species and functional diversity of crop rotations, SOC concentrations (g C kg/soil), nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications (kg\uffc2\uffa0N\uffc2\uffb7ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffc2\uffb7yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921), and estimated C input to soil (Mg\uffc2\uffa0C\uffc2\uffb7ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffc2\uffb7yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921). We categorized crop rotations into three broad categories: grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations, grain rotations with cover crops, and grain rotations with perennial crops. We divided the grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations into two sub\uffe2\uff80\uff90categories: cereal\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations and those that included both cereals and a legume grain. We compared changes in SOC and C input using mean effect sizes and 95% bootstrapped confidence intervals. Cover cropped and perennial cropped rotations, relative to grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations, increased C input by 42% and 23% and SOC concentrations by 6.3% and 12.5%, respectively. Within grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations, cereal\uffc2\uffa0+\uffc2\uffa0legume grain rotations decreased total C input (\uffe2\uff88\uff9216%), root C input (\uffe2\uff88\uff9212%), and SOC (\uffe2\uff88\uff925.3%) relative to cereal\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations. We found no effect of species diversity on SOC within grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90only rotations. N fertilizer rates mediated the effect of functional diversity on SOC within grain\uffe2\uff80\uff90only crop rotations: at low N fertilizer rates (\uffe2\uff89\uffa475\uffc2\uffa0kg N\uffc2\uffb7ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffc2\uffb7yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921), the decrease in SOC with cereal\uffc2\uffa0+\uffc2\uffa0legume grain rotations was less than at high N fertilizer rates. Our results show that increasing the functional diversity of crop rotations is more likely to increase SOC concentrations if it is accompanied by an increase in C input. Functionally diverse perennial and cover cropped rotations increased both C input and SOC concentrations, potentially by exploiting niches in time that would otherwise be unproductive, that is, increasing the \uffe2\uff80\uff9cperenniality\uffe2\uff80\uff9d of crop rotations.
", "keywords": ["Crops", " Agricultural", "2. Zero hunger", "Science", "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "Agriculture", "Fabaceae", "cropping systems", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "functional diversity", "Poaceae", "sustainable agriculture", "Soil", "meta\u2010analysis", "soil organic matter", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "cover crops", "soil carbon", "Organic Chemicals", "perennials", "Fertilizers", "nitrogen fertilizer", "biodiversity"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1648"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecological%20Applications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/eap.1648", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/eap.1648", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/eap.1648"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-12-27T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ecm.1507", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-01-09", "title": "Lessons learned from a long\u2010term irrigation experiment in a dry Scots pine forest: Impacts on traits and functioning", "description": "AbstractClimate change exposes ecosystems to strong and rapid changes in their environmental boundary conditions mainly due to the altered temperature and precipitation patterns. It is still poorly understood how fast interlinked ecosystem processes respond to altered environmental conditions, if these responses occur gradually or suddenly when thresholds are exceeded, and if the patterns of the responses will reach a stable state. We conducted an irrigation experiment in the Pfynwald, Switzerland from 2003\uffe2\uff80\uff932018. A naturally dry Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest was irrigated with amounts that doubled natural precipitation, thus releasing the forest stand from water limitation. The aim of this study was to provide a quantitative understanding on how different traits and functions of individual trees and the whole ecosystem responded to increased water availability, and how the patterns and magnitudes of these responses developed over time. We found that the response magnitude, the temporal trajectory of responses, and the length of initial lag period prior to significant response largely varied across traits. We detected rapid and stronger responses from aboveground tree traits (e.g., tree\uffe2\uff80\uff90ring width, needle length, and crown transparency) compared to belowground tree traits (e.g., fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90root biomass). The altered aboveground traits during the initial years of irrigation increased the water demand and trees adjusted by increasing root biomass during the later years of irrigation, resulting in an increased survival rate of Scots pine trees in irrigated plots. The irrigation also stimulated ecosystem\uffe2\uff80\uff90level foliar decomposition rate, fungal fruit body biomass, and regeneration abundances of broadleaved tree species. However, irrigation did not promote the regeneration of Scots pine trees, which are reported to be vulnerable to extreme droughts. Our results provide extensive evidence that tree\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and ecosystem\uffe2\uff80\uff90level responses were pervasive across a number of traits on long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term temporal scales. However, after reaching a peak, the magnitude of these responses either decreased or reached a new stable state, providing important insights into how resource alterations could change the system functioning and its boundary conditions.The relationship between the spatial variability of soil multifunctionality (i.e., the capacity of soils to conduct multiple functions; SVM) and major climatic drivers, such as temperature and aridity, has never been assessed globally in terrestrial ecosystems. We surveyed 236 dryland ecosystems from six continents to evaluate the relative importance of aridity and mean annual temperature, and of other abiotic (e.g., texture) and biotic (e.g., plant cover) variables as drivers of SVM, calculated as the averaged coefficient of variation for multiple soil variables linked to nutrient stocks and cycling. We found that increases in temperature and aridity were globally correlated to increases in SVM. Some of these climatic effects on SVM were direct, but others were indirectly driven through reductions in the number of vegetation patches and increases in soil sand content. The predictive capacity of our structural equation\uffc2\uffa0modelling was clearly higher for the spatial variability of N\uffe2\uff80\uff90 than for C\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and P\uffe2\uff80\uff90related soil variables. In the case of N cycling, the effects of temperature and aridity were both direct and indirect via changes in soil properties. For C and P, the effect of climate was mainly indirect via changes in plant attributes. These results suggest that future changes in climate may decouple the spatial availability of these elements for plants and microbes in dryland soils. Our findings significantly advance our understanding of the patterns and mechanisms driving SVM in drylands across the globe, which is critical for predicting changes in ecosystem functioning in response to climate change.The study of biodiversity has grown exponentially in the last thirty years in response to demands for greater understanding of the function and importance of Earth's biodiversity and finding solutions to conserve it. Here, we test the hypothesis that biodiversity science has become more interdisciplinary over time. To do so, we analyze 97,945 peer\uffe2\uff80\uff90reviewed articles over a twenty\uffe2\uff80\uff90two\uffe2\uff80\uff90year time period (1990\uffe2\uff80\uff932012) with a continuous time dynamic model, which classifies articles into concepts (i.e., topics and ideas) based on word co\uffe2\uff80\uff90occurrences. Using the model output, we then quantify different aspects of interdisciplinarity: concept diversity, that is, the diversity of topics and ideas across subdisciplines in biodiversity science, subdiscipline diversity, that is, the diversity of subdisciplines across concepts, and network structure, which captures interactions between concepts and subdisciplines. We found that, on average, concept and subdiscipline diversity in biodiversity science were either stable or declining, patterns which were driven by the persistence of rare concepts and subdisciplines and a decline in the diversity of common concepts and subdisciplines, respectively. Moreover, our results provide evidence that conceptual homogenization, that is, decreases in temporal \uffce\uffb2 concept diversity, underlies the observed trends in interdisciplinarity. Together, our results reveal that biodiversity science is undergoing a dynamic phase as a scientific discipline that is consolidating around a core set of concepts. Our results suggest that progress toward addressing the biodiversity crisis via greater interdisciplinarity during the study period may have been slowed by extrinsic factors, such as the failure to invest in research spanning across concepts and disciplines. However, recent initiatives such as the Intergovernmental Science\uffe2\uff80\uff90Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) may attract broader support for biodiversity\uffe2\uff80\uff90related issues and hence interdisciplinary approaches to address scientific, political, and societal challenges in the coming years.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "bibliographic analysis", "topic models", "0303 health sciences", "03 medical and health sciences", "conceptual homogenization", "interdisciplinarity", "Ecology", "13. Climate action", "15. Life on land", "Academic Practice in Ecology and Evolution", "QH540-549.5", "biodiversity"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.5244"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5244"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology%20and%20Evolution", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/ece3.5244", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/ece3.5244", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/ece3.5244"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-06-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ece3.6474", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-06-17", "title": "Tree litter functional diversity and nitrogen concentration enhance litter decomposition via changes in earthworm communities", "description": "AbstractBiodiversity is a major driver of numerous ecosystem functions. However, consequences of changes in forest biodiversity remain difficult to predict because of limited knowledge about how tree diversity influences ecosystem functions. Litter decomposition is a key process affecting nutrient cycling, productivity, and carbon storage and can be influenced by plant biodiversity. Leaf litter species composition, environmental conditions, and the detritivore community are main components of the decomposition process, but their complex interactions are poorly understood. In this study, we tested the effect of tree functional diversity (FD) on litter decomposition in a field experiment manipulating tree diversity and partitioned the effects of litter physiochemical diversity and the detritivore community. We used litterbags with different mesh sizes to separate the effects of microorganisms and microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna and monitored soil fauna using pitfall traps and earthworm extractions. We hypothesized that higher tree litter FD accelerates litter decomposition due to the availability of complementary food components and higher activity of detritivores. Although we did not find direct effects of tree FD on litter decomposition, we identified key litter traits and macrodetritivores that explained part of the process. Litter mass loss was found to decrease with an increase in leaf litter carbon:nitrogen ratio. Moreover, litter mass loss increased with an increasing density of epigeic earthworms, with most pronounced effects in litterbags with a smaller mesh size, indicating indirect effects. Higher litter FD and litter nutrient content were found to increase the density of surface\uffe2\uff80\uff90dwelling macrofauna and epigeic earthworm biomass. Based on structural equation modeling, we conclude that tree FD has a weak positive effect on soil surface litter decomposition by increasing the density of epigeic earthworms and that litter nitrogen\uffe2\uff80\uff90related traits play a central role in tree composition effects on soil fauna and decomposition.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "BIOTREE", "Ecology", "577", "macrodetritivores", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "biodiversity\u2013ecosystem function", "litter mass loss", "litter traits", "13. Climate action", "decomposers", "QH540-549.5", "Original Research"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.6474"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6474"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology%20and%20Evolution", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/ece3.6474", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/ece3.6474", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/ece3.6474"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-06-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ece3.71670", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2025-07-17", "title": "Ground\u2010Dwelling Spider Community Responses to Forest Management in a Mediterranean Oak Forest", "description": "ABSTRACTTimber production is one of the most important ecosystem services provided by hardwood forests, but clear\uffe2\uff80\uff90cutting causes severe soil disturbance. There is a current need to develop alternative forest management practices to clear\uffe2\uff80\uff90cutting in order to simultaneously promote timber production, preserve biodiversity and enhance forest health and economic value. Here, we experimentally manipulated a Quercus pubescens forest to evaluate the effects of a thinning gradient (i.e., partial tree removal) ranging from 25% to 75% basal area reduction and a logging residue retention (i.e., slash management) on ground\uffe2\uff80\uff90dwelling spider abundance and species richness. These two alternative management practices were compared with clear\uffe2\uff80\uff90cutting (100% basal area reduction) and logging residue exportation methods. In each treatment, we recorded soil temperature and moisture, understorey vegetation cover, richness and functional traits and mesologic factors describing habitat characteristics. We found clear\uffe2\uff80\uff90cutting had a stronger effect than thinning on the microclimatic conditions, i.e., higher temperatures, drier soils and reduced forest buffering capacity. The 25% thinning intensity was sufficient to drastically reduce both spider abundance and richness, but we did not find a more significant reduction when more intensive cutting was applied. This result suggests a threshold effect in the response of spiders to cutting. Significant changes in the functional diversity of understory plant communities in response to basal area were observed, along with strong effects on spider communities. Unexpectedly, slash retention appeared to have little or no effect on the forest microclimate, spider abundance and species richness. This work is intended for forest managers and policymakers and aims to contribute to the development of relevant practices that address current environmental and economic challenges. While our findings provide valuable insights into understudied forest management practices in Mediterranean climates, additional research is required, particularly through multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90seasonal and long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term spider sampling.The widely observed positive relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning is thought to be substantially driven by complementary resource use of plant species. Recent work suggests that biotic interactions among plants and between plants and soil organisms drive key aspects of resource use complementarity. Here, we provide a conceptual framework for integrating positive biotic interactions across guilds of organisms, more specifically between plants and mycorrhizal types, to explain resource use complementarity in plants and its consequences for plant competition. Our overarching hypothesis is that ecosystem functioning increases when more plant species associate with functionally dissimilar mycorrhizal fungi because differing mycorrhizal types will increase coverage of habitat space for and reduce competition among plants. We introduce a recently established field experiment (MyDiv) that uses different pools of tree species that associate with either arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal fungi to create orthogonal experimental gradients in tree species richness and mycorrhizal associations and present initial results. Finally, we discuss options for future mechanistic studies on resource use complementarity within MyDiv. We show how mycorrhizal types and biotic interactions in MyDiv can be used in the future to test novel questions regarding the mechanisms underlying biodiversity\uffe2\uff80\uff93ecosystem function relationships.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "biodiversity\u2013ecosystem functioning", "experimental design", "Ecology", "arbuscular mycorrhiza", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "ectomycorrhiza", "Article", "biotic interactions", "03 medical and health sciences", "biodiversity effects", "QH540-549.5"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.2226"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2226"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecosphere", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/ecs2.2226", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/ecs2.2226", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/ecs2.2226"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-05-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/ecy.2137", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:53Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-01-10", "title": "Ecological drivers of soil microbial diversity and soil biological networks in the Southern Hemisphere", "description": "AbstractThe ecological drivers of soil biodiversity in the Southern Hemisphere remain underexplored. Here, in a continental survey comprising 647 sites, across 58 degrees of latitude between tropical Australia and Antarctica, we evaluated the major ecological patterns in soil biodiversity and relative abundance of ecological clusters within a co\uffe2\uff80\uff90occurrence network of soil bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Six major ecological clusters (modules) of co\uffe2\uff80\uff90occurring soil taxa were identified. These clusters exhibited strong shifts in their relative abundances with increasing distance from the equator. Temperature was the major environmental driver of the relative abundance of ecological clusters when Australia and Antarctica are analyzed together. Temperature, aridity, soil properties and vegetation types were the major drivers of the relative abundance of different ecological clusters within Australia. Our data supports significant reductions in the diversity of bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes in Antarctica vs. Australia linked to strong reductions in temperature. However, we only detected small latitudinal variations in soil biodiversity within Australia. Different environmental drivers regulate the diversity of soil archaea (temperature and soil carbon), bacteria (aridity, vegetation attributes and pH) and eukaryotes (vegetation type and soil carbon) across Australia. Together, our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms driving soil biodiversity in the Southern Hemisphere.Responses of the soil microbial and nematode community to organic and conventional agricultural practices were studied using the Teagasc Kinsealy Systems Comparison trial as the experimental system. The trial is a long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term field experiment which divides conventional and organic agriculture into component pest\uffe2\uff80\uff90control and soil treatment practices. We hypothesised that management practices would affect soil ecology and used community level physiological profiles, microbial and nematode counts, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to characterise soil microbial communities in plots used for onion (Allium cepa L.) cultivation.
RESULTSMicrobial activity and culturable bacterial counts were significantly higher under fully organic management. Culturable fungi, actinomycete and nematode counts showed a consistent trend towards higher numbers under fully organic management but these data were not statistically significant. No differences were found in the fungal/bacterial ratio. DGGE banding patterns and sequencing of excised bands showed clear differences between treatments. Putative onion fungal pathogens were predominantly sequenced under conventional soil treatment practices whilst putative soil suppressive bacterial species were predominantly sequenced from the organic pest\uffe2\uff80\uff90control treatment plots.
CONCLUSIONOrganic management increased microbial activity and diversity. Sequence data was indicative of differences in functional groups and warrants further investigation. \uffc2\uffa9 2013 Society of Chemical Industry
", "keywords": ["DNA", " Bacterial", "0301 basic medicine", "Microbial diversity", "Nematoda", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Onions", "Animals", "DNA", " Fungal", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "Organic Agriculture", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis", "0402 animal and dairy science", "Fungi", "Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis", "Agriculture", "Biolog Eco-plates", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Community level physiological profile", "Organic agriculture", "0405 other agricultural sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.6206"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20the%20Science%20of%20Food%20and%20Agriculture", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/jsfa.6206", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/jsfa.6206", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/jsfa.6206"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-06-07T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/lno.11606", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:14:59Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-09-25", "title": "The relevance of environment vs. composition on dissolved organic matter degradation in freshwaters", "description": "AbstractDissolved organic matter (DOM) composition exerts a direct control on its degradation and subsequent persistence in aquatic ecosystems. Yet, under certain conditions, the degradation patterns of DOM cannot be solely explained by its composition, highlighting the relevance of environmental conditions for DOM degradation. Here, we experimentally assessed the relative influence of composition vs. environment on DOM degradation by performing degradation bioassays using three contrasting DOM sources inoculated with a standardized bacterial inoculum under five distinct environments. The DOM degradation kinetics modeled using reactivity continuum models showed that composition was more important than environment in determining the bulk DOM decay patterns. Changes in DOM composition resulted from the interaction between DOM source and environment. The role of environment was stronger on shaping the bacterial community composition, but the intrinsic nature of the DOM source exerted stronger control on the DOM degradation function.
Making agriculture sustainable is a global challenge. In the European Union (EU), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is failing with respect to biodiversity, climate, soil, land degradation as well as socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90economic challenges.
The European Commission's proposal for a CAP post\uffe2\uff80\uff902020 provides a scope for enhanced sustainability. However, it also allows Member States to choose low\uffe2\uff80\uff90ambition implementation pathways. It therefore remains essential to address citizens' demands for sustainable agriculture and rectify systemic weaknesses in the CAP, using the full breadth of available scientific evidence and knowledge.
Concerned about current attempts to dilute the environmental ambition of the future CAP, and the lack of concrete proposals for improving the CAP in the draft of the European Green Deal, we call on the European Parliament, Council and Commission to adopt 10 urgent action points for delivering sustainable food production, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation.
Knowledge is available to help moving towards evidence\uffe2\uff80\uff90based, sustainable European agriculture that can benefit people, nature and their joint futures.
The statements made in this article have the broad support of the scientific community, as expressed by above 3,600 signatories to the preprint version of this manuscript. The list can be found here (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3685632).
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
", "keywords": ["330", "333.7 Landfl\u00e4chen", " Naturr\u00e4ume f\u00fcr Freizeit und Erholung", " Naturreservate", " Energie", "public goods", "ddc:320", "0211 other engineering and technologies", "02 engineering and technology", "SMART targets", "01 natural sciences", "7. Clean energy", "630", "Article", "12. Responsible consumption", "GF1-900", "11. Sustainability", "evidence-based policy", "ddc:630", "European Green Deal", "QH540-549.5", "agriculture", "biodiversity", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Ecology", "ddc:333", "1. No poverty", "15. Life on land", "320", "Agronomy", "Environmental sciences", "climate change", "Human ecology. Anthropogeography", "13. Climate action", "evidence\u2010based policy", "Common Agricultural Policy"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/pan3.10080"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10080"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/People%20and%20Nature", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/pan3.10080", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/pan3.10080", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/pan3.10080"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-03-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1002/sae2.12031", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:15:00Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-11-12", "title": "Frontiers in soil ecology\u2014Insights from the World Biodiversity Forum 2022", "description": "AbstractGlobal change is affecting soil biodiversity and functioning across all terrestrial ecosystems. Still, much is unknown about how soil biodiversity and function will change in the future in response to simultaneous alterations in climate and land use, as well as other environmental drivers. It is crucial to understand the direct, indirect\uffc2\uffa0and interactive effects of global change drivers on soil communities and ecosystems across environmental contexts, not only today but also in the near future. This is particularly relevant for international efforts to tackle climate change like the Paris Agreement, and considering the failure to achieve the 2020 biodiversity targets, especially the target of halting soil degradation. Here, we outline the main frontiers related to soil ecology that were presented and discussed at the thematic sessions of the World Biodiversity Forum 2022 in Davos, Switzerland. We highlight multiple frontiers of knowledge associated with data integration, causal inference, soil biodiversity and function scenarios, critical soil biodiversity facets, underrepresented drivers, global collaboration, knowledge application and transdisciplinarity, as well as policy and public communication. These identified research priorities are not only of immediate interest to the scientific community but may also be considered in research priority programmes and calls for funding.Rangeland-based livestock production constitutes a primary source of livelihood for many inhabitants of dryland regions. Their subsistence relies heavily on maintaining the productivity, biodiversity and services of these ecosystems. Harsh environmental conditions (e.g., drought) combined with land use intensification (e.g., overgrazing) make dryland ecosystems vulnerable and prone to degradation. However, the interplay between livestock grazing intensity and aridity conditions in driving the conservation and nutritional value of forage in arid and semi-arid rangelands is still not fully understood. In this study, we performed structural equation models (SEM) to assess the simultaneous direct and indirect effects of livestock grazing intensity and aridity level on community structure, diversity, biomass, forage production, forage C:N ratio and forage fiber composition in two semi-arid Mediterranean rangelands, NE Spain. Not surprisingly, we found that higher livestock grazing intensity led to lower community plant cover, especially when combined with higher aridity. However, both increasing grazing intensity and aridity were associated with higher forage production after one year of grazing exclusion. We did not find any adverse effect of livestock grazing on plant diversity, although plant species composition differed among grazing intensity levels. On the other hand, we found an aridity-driven trade-off in regard of the nutritional value of forage. Specifically, higher aridity was associated with a decrease in the least digestible fiber fraction (i.e., lignin) and an increase in forage C:N ratio. More interestingly, we found that livestock grazing modulated this trade-off by improving the overall forage nutritional value. Altogether, our results provide further insights into the management of semi-arid Mediterranean rangelands, pointing out that maintaining traditional rangeland-based livestock production may be a sustainable option as long as rangeland conservation (e.g., community plant cover) is not severely compromised.