Resource dependent biodiversity and potential multi-trophic interactions determine belowground functional trait stability

Authors: ZHU, LINGYUE - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; CHEN, YAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; SUN, RUIBO - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; ZHANG, JIABAO - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; Hale, Lauren; DUMACK, KENNETH - University Of Cologne; GEISEN, STEFAN - Wageningen University; ZOU, WENXIU - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; HAN, XIAORI - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; DUAN, YINGHUA - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; ZHU, BO - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; LI, YAN - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; LIU, WENZHAO - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; WANG, XIAOYUE - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences; GRIFFITHS, BRYAN - Sruc-Scotland'S Rural College; BONKOWSKI, MICHAEL - University Of Cologne; ZHOU, JIZHONG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences

Submitted to: Microbiome
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/30/2023
Publication Date: 5/1/2023
Citation: Zhu, L., Chen, Y., Sun, R., Zhang, J., Hale, L.E., Dumack, K., Geisen, S., Zou, W., Han, X., Duan, Y., Zhu, B., Li, Y., Liu, W., Wang, X., Griffiths, B.S., Bonkowski, M., Zhou, J. 2023. Resource dependent biodiversity and potential multi-trophic interactions determine belowground functional trait stability. Microbiome. 11(1):1-17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-023-01539-5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-023-01539-5

Interpretive Summary: To merit intensive agricultural practices as sustainable, it is essential to understand their implications on biodiversity and the functional stability of belowground organisms. In this study, a network of field stations and microcosm laboratory experiments were leveraged to reveal that higher resource availability, owing to artificial nutrient inputs, resulted in higher portions of across-trophic associations. Functional stability of the microbial systems was impacted more-so by the effects of multiple associations had a greater impact on functional stability of the microbial systems than biodiversity, which suggested an important role of tropic interactions in the stability of soil microbial ecosystem services.

Technical Abstract: For achieving long-term sustainability of intensive agricultural practices, it is critical to understand belowground biodiversity and functional stability as belowground organisms play essential roles in soil biogeochemical cycling. It is commonly believed that resource availability and species interactions are critical drivers in controlling the soil biodiversity that ultimately leads to the stabilization or collapse of terrestrial ecosystems functions, but evidence to support this belief is still limited. Here, we leveraged field experiments from National Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) sites located across China and a microcosm laboratory study mimicking high and low available resource conditions to explore how resource availability affects soil biodiversity, trophic associations, and potential functional trait stability. We found that agricultural practice-induced higher resource availability increased across trophic associations in most field sites, which in turn had greater effect on functional trait stability; while low resource availability made the functional trait stability dependent on soil biodiversity, which was influenced by within trophic associations. This large-scale pattern was confirmed by fine-scale microcosm systems, showing that microcosms with sufficient nutrient supply could increase across trophic associations and then enhance temporal functional stability. Our results indicated the importance of multi-trophic associations in supporting belowground biodiversity and functional trait stability, and also suggested the ecological benefits of fertilization programs in modern agricultural intensification.