The 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.Retreating glaciers, icons of climate change, release new potential habitats for both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. High\uffe2\uff80\uff90elevation species are threatened by temperature increases and the upward migration of lowlands species. Improving our understanding of successional processes after glacier retreat becomes urgent, especially in the tropics, where glacier shrinkage is particularly fast. We examined the successional patterns of aquatic invertebrates, ground beetles, terrestrial plants, soil eukaryotes (algae, invertebrates, plants) in an equatorial glacier foreland (Carihuairazo, Ecuador). Based on both taxonomical identification and eDNA metabarcoding, we analysed the effects of both environmental conditions and age of deglacierization on community composition. Except for algae, diversity increased with time since deglacierization, especially among passive dispersers, suggesting that dispersal was a key driver structuring the glacier foreland succession. Spatial \uffce\uffb2\uffe2\uff80\uff90diversity was mainly attributed to nestedness for aquatic invertebrates, terrestrial plants and soil algae, likely linked to low environmental variability within the studied glacier foreland; and to turnover for soil invertebrates, suggesting competition exclusion at the oldest successional stage. Pioneer communities were dominated by species exhibiting flexible feeding strategies and high dispersal ability (mainly transported by wind), probably colonising from lower altitudes, or from the glacier in the case of algae. Overall, glacier foreland colonisation in the tropics exhibit common characteristics to higher latitudes. High\uffe2\uff80\uff90elevation species are nevertheless threatened, as the imminent extinction of many tropical glaciers will affect species associated to glacier\uffe2\uff80\uff90influenced habitats but also prevent cold\uffe2\uff80\uff90adapted and hygrophilous species from using these habitats as refuges in a warming world.
", "keywords": ["Colonization", "[SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics", "550", "Early succession", "glacier retreat", "Sociology", "[SDV.EE.ECO] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", " environment/Ecosystems", "Environmental DNA Sequencing", "Glacier", "Ecology", "Geography", "early succession", "Life Sciences", "Phylogenetics and taxonomy", "Biodiversity", "[SDV.BV.BOT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics", "Threatened species", "FOS: Sociology", "Multiple-taxa", "multiple-taxa", "Habitat", "[SDE]Environmental Sciences", "Physical Sciences", "environment/Ecosystems", "570", "Physical geography", "Population", "Global Diversity of Microbial Eukaryotes and Their Evolution", "[SDV.BV.BOT] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology/Botanics", "Ecological succession", "Biochemistry", " Genetics and Molecular Biology", "Biological dispersal", "[SDV.BID.SPT] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics", " Phylogenetics and taxonomy", "equatorial glacier foreland", "Equatorial glacier foreland", "Glacier retreat", "Molecular Biology", "Biology", "Demography", "Marine Microbial Diversity and Biogeography", "Colonisation", "South America", "15. Life on land", "[SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "13. Climate action", "FOS: Biological sciences", "[SDV.EE.ECO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", "Environmental Science", "[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "early succession; equatorial glacier foreland; glacier retreat; multiple-taxa", "Environmental DNA in Biodiversity Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/851699/2/rosero%202021.pdf"}, {"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ecog.05478"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05478"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecography", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/ecog.05478", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/ecog.05478", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/ecog.05478"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-05-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/mec.15674", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-25T16:19:00Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-10-09", "title": "Effects of soil preservation for biodiversity monitoring using environmental DNA", "description": "AbstractEnvironmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is becoming a key tool for biodiversity monitoring over large geographical or taxonomic scales and for elusive taxa such as soil organisms. Increasing sample sizes and interest in remote or extreme areas often require the preservation of soil samples and thus deviations from optimal standardized protocols. However, we still ignore the impact of different methods of soil sample preservation on the results of metabarcoding studies and there is no guideline for best practices so far. Here, we assessed the impact of four methods of soil sample preservation that can be conveniently used also in metabarcoding studies targeting remote or difficult to access areas. Tested methods include: preservation at room temperature for 6\uffc2\uffa0hr, preservation at 4\uffc2\uffb0C for 3\uffc2\uffa0days, desiccation immediately after sampling and preservation for 21\uffc2\uffa0days, and desiccation after 6\uffc2\uffa0hr at room temperature and preservation for 21\uffc2\uffa0days. For each preservation method, we benchmarked resulting estimates of taxon diversity and community composition of three different taxonomic groups (bacteria, fungi and eukaryotes) in three different habitats (forest, river bank and grassland) against results obtained under ideal conditions (i.e., extraction of eDNA immediately after sampling). Overall, the different preservation methods only marginally impaired results and only under certain conditions. When rare taxa were considered, we detected small but significant changes in molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) richness of bacteria, fungi and eukaryotes across treatments, but MOTU richness was similar across preservation methods if rare taxa were not considered. All the approaches were able to identify differences in community structure among habitats, and the communities retrieved using the different preservation conditions were extremely similar. We propose guidelines on the selection of the optimal soil sample preservation conditions for metabarcoding studies, depending on the practical constraints, costs and ultimate research goals.
", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "570", "0303 health sciences", "[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]", "Biodiversity", "Forests", "15. Life on land", "DNA", " Environmental", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "eDNA metabarcoding; eukaryotes; microbial communities; MOTU richness; sample storage; \u03b1 and \u03b2 diversity", "13. Climate action", "DNA Barcoding", " Taxonomic", "Environmental Monitoring"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/791337/2/guerrieri%202020%20%20submitted.pdf"}, {"href": "https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/791337/4/mec.15674.pdf"}, {"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mec.15674"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15674"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Molecular%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/mec.15674", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/mec.15674", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/mec.15674"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-05-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.14634", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-25T16:19:01Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-06-13", "title": "Circular linkages between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are limited to topsoil at the continental scale", "description": "Summary
The current theoretical framework suggests that tripartite positive feedback relationships between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are universal. However, empirical evidence for these relationships at the continental scale and across different soil depths is lacking.
We investigate the continental\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale relationships between the diversity of microbial and invertebrate\uffe2\uff80\uff90based soil food webs, fertility and above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground plant productivity at 289 sites and two soil depths, that is 0\uffe2\uff80\uff9310 and 20\uffe2\uff80\uff9330\uffc2\uffa0cm, across Australia.
Soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are strongly positively related in surface soils. Conversely, in the deeper soil layer, the relationships between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity weaken considerably, probably as a result of a reduction in biodiversity and fertility with depth. Further modeling suggested that strong positive associations among soil biodiversity\uffe2\uff80\uff93fertility and fertility\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant productivity are limited to the upper soil layer (0\uffe2\uff80\uff9310\uffc2\uffa0cm), after accounting for key factors, such as distance from the equator, altitude, climate and physicochemical soil properties.
These findings highlight the importance of surface soil biodiversity for soil fertility, and suggest that any loss of surface soil could potentially break the links between soil biodiversity\uffe2\uff80\uff93fertility and/or fertility\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant productivity, which can negatively impact nutrient cycling and food production, upon which future generations depend.
The current theoretical framework suggests that tripartite positive feedback relationships between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are universal. However, empirical evidence for these relationships at the continental scale and across different soil depths is lacking.
We investigate the continental\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale relationships between the diversity of microbial and invertebrate\uffe2\uff80\uff90based soil food webs, fertility and above\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground plant productivity at 289 sites and two soil depths, that is 0\uffe2\uff80\uff9310 and 20\uffe2\uff80\uff9330\uffc2\uffa0cm, across Australia.
Soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity are strongly positively related in surface soils. Conversely, in the deeper soil layer, the relationships between soil biodiversity, fertility and plant productivity weaken considerably, probably as a result of a reduction in biodiversity and fertility with depth. Further modeling suggested that strong positive associations among soil biodiversity\uffe2\uff80\uff93fertility and fertility\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant productivity are limited to the upper soil layer (0\uffe2\uff80\uff9310\uffc2\uffa0cm), after accounting for key factors, such as distance from the equator, altitude, climate and physicochemical soil properties.
These findings highlight the importance of surface soil biodiversity for soil fertility, and suggest that any loss of surface soil could potentially break the links between soil biodiversity\uffe2\uff80\uff93fertility and/or fertility\uffe2\uff80\uff93plant productivity, which can negatively impact nutrient cycling and food production, upon which future generations depend.
The 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.