Article
Microbiology
Nan Yang, Bo Wang, Dong Liu, Xuan Wang, Xiuxiu Li, Yan Zhang, Yaming Xu, Sili Peng, Zhiwei Ge, Lingfeng Mao, Honghua Ruan, Rodica Pena
Summary: The continuous increase in soil nitrogen has strong impacts on ecosystems. Understanding how plant ectomycorrhizal fungi respond to additional nitrogen can help develop and implement effective management strategies. A study in a poplar plantation in China showed that excessive nitrogen reduced EMF colonization and species richness, affecting community structure and functional traits. Soil carbon content and available phosphorus were important factors driving EMF abundance, while ammonium content influenced community structure and mycelium foraging types.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Richard M. Lehtinen, Christopher W. Gumpper, Keara Weiss, Linnea L. Johnson, Nathan G. Weltman, Mackenzie N. Kellar
Summary: The study found that glass frog communities in old-growth and second-growth rainforests are very similar, with no significant differences in species abundance and composition. Therefore, glass frog populations in second-growth rainforests are likely to be viable and self-sustaining.
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Chaonan Wang, Xiang Li, Xiaoming Lu, Yang Wang, Yongfei Bai
Summary: Grazing in grasslands can regulate functional trait composition through intraspecific trait variation and species turnover. This study examined the relative roles of these variables in controlling grazing-induced shifts in community functional composition. The results showed that aboveground traits shifted towards grazing avoidance strategies and belowground traits shifted towards conservation strategies with increasing grazing intensity. Functional tradeoffs were found between plant individual biomass and density, as well as between leaf area and density. Intraspecific trait variation predominantly governed shifts in community functional trait composition, while changes in mean trait values among plant species were mainly triggered by species turnover.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Jinping Wang, Rongzhen Huang, Liqin Zhu, Hongzhi Guan, Lijing Lin, Huanying Fang, Mengjia Yang, Shaohui Ji, Xianhua Zou, Xin Li
Summary: The study found that the bacterial diversity in biological soil crusts is high, dominated by Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Chloroflexi. Below the BSCs, biochar addition has some impact on soil bacterial communities but minimal effect on soil fungal communities.
Article
Ecology
Alena Krause, Dorothee Sandmann, Anton Potapov, Sergey Ermilov, Rahayu Widyastuti, Noor Farikhah Haneda, Stefan Scheu, Mark Maraun
Summary: The study investigated shifts in the community-level trophic niche of oribatid mites with the conversion of rainforest into rubber and oil palm plantations. The results showed that oribatid mites shifted their diet towards predation and scavenging, as well as towards the plant-based energy channel with the transformation of rainforest into plantations. This suggests that the conversion of rainforest into plantations leads to significant changes in the community-level trophic niches of mesofauna detritivores.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jane L. DeGabriel, Timothy L. Sutton, Jonathan T. D. Finch, James M. Cook
Summary: This study compared the composition and structure of the fig wasp community associated with Ficus rubiginosa between temperate and tropical regions in Australia. The results showed that while there were differences in taxonomic composition, the functional structure of the community did not vary significantly between regions.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Yukiko Abe, Hiroyuki Kurokochi, Kazutoshi Yoshitake, Ryo Yonezawa, Shuichi Asakawa, Takeshi Tange
Summary: This study investigated the composition of soil bacterial communities in a Cryptomeria japonica plantation at different times after clear-cutting, revealing variations in the frequencies of Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria, which are affected by soil temperature and the presence of organic layers post-clear-cutting.
Article
Microbiology
Guillaume Bay, Conard Lee, Chiliang Chen, Navreet K. Mahal, Michael J. Castellano, Kirsten S. Hofmockel, Larry J. Halverson
Summary: The diversity of cropping systems affects the composition of soil microbial communities, particularly in the rhizosphere and endosphere. Diversified cropping systems recruit a more diverse bacterial community in the rhizosphere, while fungal species richness varies between different cropping systems.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Esther Ockermueller, Sophie Kratschmer, Christa Hainz-Renetzeder, Norbert Sauberer, Harald Meimberg, Thomas Frank, Kathrin Pascher, Barbel Pachinger
Summary: In the past centuries, changes in farming practices have led to a significant transformation of farmland, resulting in the destruction of natural habitats and loss of biodiversity. Identification of landscape patterns, habitats, and species vulnerable to intensive land-use is crucial for conservation efforts. A study in Austria showed that increased agricultural land cover had negative effects on wild bee species richness, abundance, and functional richness. Semi-natural elements and high flower cover within farmland were found to be important for maintaining and enhancing wild bee populations. The study highlights the need for improved agri-environmental schemes to combat biodiversity loss in farmland.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Valentina Riffo-Donoso, Felipe Osorio, Francisco E. Fonturbel
Summary: The study revealed that as habitat disturbance intensifies, bryophyte diversity decreases, and species turnover increases in the temperate forests. Liverworts are more sensitive to habitat disturbance compared to mosses, reaching their highest diversity in primary forests. Substrate availability also plays a key role in shaping the bryophyte community.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maxime Rejou-Mechain, Frederic Mortier, Jean-Francois Bastin, Guillaume Cornu, Nicolas Barbier, Nicolas Bayol, Fabrice Benedet, Xavier Bry, Gilles Dauby, Vincent Deblauwe, Jean-Louis Doucet, Charles Doumenge, Adeline Fayolle, Claude Garcia, Jean-Paul Kibambe Lubamba, Jean-Joel Loumeto, Alfred Ngomanda, Pierre Ploton, Bonaventure Sonke, Catherine Trottier, Ruppert Vimal, Olga Yongo, Raphael Pelissier, Sylvie Gourlet-Fleury
Summary: This study utilized a massive dataset to map the floristic and functional composition of central African forests and predict their vulnerability to climate change. The results showed highly deterministic assemblages in these forests, with contrasting compositions across different climates, soil types, and anthropogenic gradients.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Ruth E. Bennett, T. Scott Sillett, Robert A. Rice, Peter P. Marra
Summary: Bird diversity declines sharply in low shade cocoa farms. Cocoa with over 30% canopy cover from diverse trees maintains bird diversity similar to nearby primary or mature secondary forest but with a different community of birds. Diversity of endemic species, frugivores, and insectivores (agriculture avoiders) declines, while diversity of habitat generalists, migrants, nectarivores, and granivores (agriculture associates) increases.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Yessica Rivas, Humberto Aponte, Diego Rivera-Salazar, Francisco Matus, Oscar Martinez, Carolina Encina, Jorge Retamal-Salgado
Summary: Despite the expansion of forest plantations in Chile, their impact on soil biology has been poorly studied. This research evaluated the changes in microbial composition and enzyme activity after the conversion of native forest to fast-growing species and cropping. Soil organic matter, phosphorous, calcium, boron, and water-holding capacity were found to be key factors influencing microbial abundance and diversity. More research is needed to fully understand the connection between soil factors and microbial community composition.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Katalin Szitar, Balazs Deak, Melinda Halassy, Carolina Steffen, Peter Batary
Summary: Agri-environment schemes (AES) are valuable in supporting pollination in agricultural landscapes. This two-year study in Germany compared the effectiveness of organic farming and flower strips in maintaining diverse and abundant insect-pollinated plants. Both AES showed positive effects, but only organic farming maintained high functional diversity of pollination-related plant traits in field interiors.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Laura J. Raymond-Leonard, Jerome Corret, I. Tanya Handa
Summary: Novel quantitative functional traits, such as feeding traits, are being applied to new soil invertebrate taxa, but standardization is lacking. This study aimed to determine intraspecific trait variation of mandibular traits in springtails to improve measurement protocols and promote trait standardization. The study found that intraspecific trait variation was mostly influenced by body length, sex, life stage, and geographic zone. The results allowed for better standardization of these traits and highlighted the importance of estimating intraspecific trait variation in order to ensure reliable data and accelerate comparative efforts.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Anton M. Potapov, Frederic Beaulieu, Klaus Birkhofer, Sarah L. Bluhm, Maxim Degtyarev, Miloslav Devetter, Anton A. Goncharov, Konstantin B. Gongalsky, Bernhard Klarner, Daniil Korobushkin, Dana F. Liebke, Mark Maraun, Rory J. Mc Donnell, Melanie M. Pollierer, Ina Schaefer, Julia Shrubovych, Irina I. Semenyuk, Alberto Sendra, Jiri Tuma, Michala Tumova, Anna B. Vassilieva, Ting-Wen Chen, Stefan Geisen, Olaf Schmidt, Alexei Tiunov, Stefan Scheu
Summary: Soil organisms play a crucial role in ecosystem functions by mineralizing carbon and releasing nutrients, which supports plant growth, biodiversity, and human nutrition. The feeding habits of soil organisms have been studied using molecular, biochemical, and isotopic tools, revealing new insights into their trophic relationships and food resource preferences. This comprehensive review provides a multifunctional classification of soil-associated consumers, integrating existing knowledge and novel methods, and highlights the importance of adopting these tools for future soil food-web research.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Michael D. Pashkevich, Sarah H. Luke, Anak Agung Ketut Aryawan, Helen S. Waters, Jean-Pierre Caliman, Nadine Duperre, Mohammad Naim, Anton M. Potapov, Edgar C. Turner
Summary: Expansion of oil palm plantations has led to significant declines in biodiversity and changes in ecosystem functioning. While forested buffers have been shown to benefit oil palm systems, the impacts of mature palm buffers remain uncertain. This study found that mature palm buffers being passively restored can have greater environmental complexity and higher levels of arthropod biodiversity than non-buffer areas, particularly compared to recently replanted oil palm. However, these benefits are not consistent throughout the commercial life cycle of the crop. Active restoration or alternative measures may be required to consistently increase habitat heterogeneity and improve biodiversity in oil palm plantations.
ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Anton M. Potapov
Summary: This study reconstructs a food web that covers soil-associated consumers of different size classes based on generic food-web organization principles and multifunctional classification. Weighted trophic interactions among trophic guilds are inferred to calculate energy fluxes and propose indicators related to stability, biodiversity, and ecosystem-level functions. The multichannel reconstruction approach can assess trophic multifunctionality and compare it across communities and ecosystems.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Zheng Zhou, Valentyna Krashevska, Rahayu Widyastuti, Stefan Scheu, Anton Potapov
Summary: Agricultural expansion threatens tropical ecosystems by eroding biodiversity and impacting the structure and energetics of soil food webs. This study in Sumatra, Indonesia, found that converting rainforest into plantations led to a shift in carbon sources for animals, with most taxa choosing freshly-fixed plant carbon in plantations. However, earthworms remained unchanged and monopolized the detrital pathway. The functional diversity of soil food webs was associated with litter amount, tree density, and species richness in plantations. Overall, this restructuring of soil food webs highlights the long-term threat to soil functioning and ecosystem stability.
Article
Ecology
Valentyna Krashevska, Christian Stiegler, Tania June, Rahayu Widyastuti, Alexander Knohl, Stefan Scheu, Anton Potapov
Summary: Deforestation and agricultural expansion in the tropics affect seasonal variations below ground, with microbial communities responding most strongly. Increased seasonal variations in soil biota in plantations may compromise the stability of tropical ecosystems.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Zheng Zhou, Jing-Zhong Lu, Jooris Preiser, Rahayu Widyastuti, Stefan Scheu, Anton Potapov
Summary: Belowground life in tropical soils relies on both plant litter and living roots, but the importance of root-litter linkage has been understudied. We analyzed the response of 30 soil animal groups to root trenching and litter removal in rainforest and plantations in Sumatra, and found that roots are equally important to soil fauna as litter. Trenching had a stronger effect on soil fauna compared to litter, leading to a decrease in animal abundance in both rainforest and plantations. Litter removal mainly affected animal abundance in rainforest and rubber plantations but not in oil palm plantations. The effects of litter and roots on animal abundances can be explained by body size or vertical distribution.
Article
Ecology
Melanie M. Pollierer, Jochen Drescher, Anton Potapov, Kasmiatun Kasmiatun, Amanda Mawan, Mega Mutiari, Rizky Nazarreta, Purnama Hidayat, Damayanti Buchori, Stefan Scheu
Summary: Tropical rainforests are turning into cash crop agricultural systems, leading to massive losses of plant and animal species and changes in arthropod food webs and energy fluxes. Conversion to rubber and oil palm plantations results in a significant reduction in energy fluxes and shifts in trophic groups. These changes highlight the degradation of animal-driven functions and restructuring of canopy food webs.
Article
Soil Science
Ajuan Zhang, Yan Zhang, Anton M. Potapov, Daya Ram Bhusal, Wei Qiang, Min Wang, Xueyong Pang
Summary: Soil animal diversity is influenced by environmental and food diversity. Mites are important in soil communities and play a key role in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling. However, it is unclear if the diversity and quality of mite communities are associated with corresponding food resources across trophic levels.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Delphine Clara Zemp, Nathaly Guerrero-Ramirez, Fabian Brambach, Kevin Darras, Ingo Grass, Anton Potapov, Alexander Roell, Isabelle Arimond, Johannes Ballauff, Hermann Behling, Dirk Berkelmann, Siria Biagioni, Damayanti Buchori, Dylan Craven, Rolf Daniel, Oliver Gailing, Florian Ellsaesser, Riko Fardiansah, Nina Hennings, Bambang Irawan, Watit Khokthong, Valentyna Krashevska, Alena Krause, Johanna Kueckes, Kevin Li, Hendrik Lorenz, Mark Maraun, Miryam Sarah Merk, Carina C. M. Moura, Yeni A. Mulyani, Gustavo B. Paterno, Herni Dwinta Pebrianti, Andrea Polle, Di Ajeng Prameswari, Lena Sachsenmaier, Stefan Scheu, Dominik Schneider, Fitta Setiajiati, Christina Ani Setyaningsih, Leti Sundawati, Teja Tscharntke, Meike Wollni, Dirk Hoelscher, Holger Kreft
Summary: There are still knowledge gaps in how to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in cash crop-dominated tropical landscapes in the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. This study presents findings from a 5-year ecosystem restoration experiment in an oil palm landscape enriched with 52 tree islands, showing higher indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in tree islands compared to conventionally managed oil palm. Enriching oil palm-dominated landscapes with tree islands is a promising ecological restoration strategy that does not decrease oil palm yield.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anton M. Potapov, Carlos A. Guerra, Johan van den Hoogen, Anatoly Babenko, Bruno C. Bellini, Matty P. Berg, Steven L. Chown, Louis Deharveng, Lubomir Kovac, Natalia A. Kuznetsova, Jean-Francois Ponge, Mikhail B. Potapov, David J. Russell, Douglas Alexandre, Juha M. Alatalo, Javier I. Arbea, Ipsa Bandyopadhyaya, Veronica Bernava, Stef Bokhorst, Thomas Bolger, Gabriela Castano-Meneses, Matthieu Chauvat, Ting-Wen Chen, Mathilde Chomel, Aimee T. Classen, Jerome Cortet, Peter Cuchta, Ana Manuela de la Pedrosa, Susana S. D. Ferreira, Cristina Fiera, Juliane Filser, Oscar Franken, Saori Fujii, Essivi Gagnon Koudji, Meixiang Gao, Benoit Gendreau-Berthiaume, Diego F. Gomez-Pamies, Michelle Greve, I. Tanya Handa, Charlene Heiniger, Martin Holmstrup, Pablo Homet, Mari Ivask, Charlene Janion-Scheepers, Malte Jochum, Sophie Joimel, Bruna Claudia S. Jorge, Edite Jucevica, Olga Ferlian, Luis Carlos Iunes de Oliveira Filho, Osmar Klauberg-Filho, Dilmar Baretta, Eveline J. Krab, Annely Kuu, Estevam C. A. de Lima, Dunmei Lin, Zoe Lindo, Amy Liu, Jing-Zhong Lu, Maria Jose Lucianez, Michael T. Marx, Matthew A. McCary, Maria A. Minor, Taizo Nakamori, Ilaria Negri, Raul Ochoa-Hueso, Jose G. Palacios-Vargas, Melanie M. Pollierer, Pascal Querner, Natalia Raschmanova, Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid, Laura J. Raymond-Leonard, Laurent Rousseau, Ruslan A. Saifutdinov, Sandrine Salmon, Emma J. Sayer, Nicole Scheunemann, Cornelia Scholz, Julia Seeber, Yulia B. Shveenkova, Sophya K. Stebaeva, Maria Sterzynska, Xin Sun, Winda I. Susanti, Anastasia A. Taskaeva, Madhav P. Thakur, Maria A. Tsiafouli, Matthew S. Turnbull, Mthokozisi N. Twala, Alexei V. Uvarov, Lisa A. Venier, Lina A. Widenfalk, Bruna R. Winck, Daniel Winkler, Donghui Wu, Zhijing Xie, Rui Yin, Douglas Zeppelini, Thomas W. Crowther, Nico Eisenhauer, Stefan Scheu
Summary: Soil life plays a crucial role in maintaining the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Among soil arthropods, springtails are highly abundant and they regulate soil fertility and energy flow in above- and belowground food webs. However, we currently have limited knowledge about the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, as well as their relationship with energy fluxes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Najeeb Al-Amin Iddris, Greta Formaglio, Carola Paul, Volker von Gross, Guantao Chen, Andres Angulo-Rubiano, Dirk Berkelmann, Fabian Brambach, Kevin F. A. Darras, Valentyna Krashevska, Anton Potapov, Arne Wenzel, Bambang Irawan, Muhammad Damris, Rolf Daniel, Ingo Grass, Holger Kreft, Stefan Scheu, Teja Tscharntke, Aiyen Tjoa, Edzo Veldkamp, Marife D. Corre
Summary: This full factorial experiment conducted in an Indonesian state-owned industrial oil palm plantation evaluated the effects of reduced management practices on ecosystem functions and biodiversity. The results showed that mechanical weeding exhibited higher multifunctionality and increased plant species diversity compared to herbicide treatment. Furthermore, reduced fertilization and mechanical weeding increased profit and gross margin while achieving similar yields.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Estelle P. Bruni, Olivia Rusconi, Olivier Broennimann, Antoine Adde, Raphael Jauslin, Valentyna Krashevska, Anush Kosakyan, Eric Armynot du Chatelet, Joao P. B. Alcino, Louis Beyens, Quentin Blandenier, Anatoly Bobrov, Luciana Burdman, Clement Duckert, Leonardo D. Fernandez, Maria Beatriz Gomes e Souza, Thierry J. Heger, Isabelle Koenig, Daniel J. G. Lahr, Michelle McKeown, Ralf Meisterfeld, David Singer, Eckhard Voelcker, Janet Wilmshurst, Sebastien Wohlhauser, David M. Wilkinson, Antoine Guisan, Edward A. D. Mitchell
Summary: This study investigates the diversity and distribution of Apodera vas, a model soil microorganism, and explores the role played by historical factors and dispersal limitation. It demonstrates the potential impact of climate change on the regional extinction of terrestrial microorganisms, highlighting the importance of including microorganisms in biodiversity conservation research and actions.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Anton Potapov, Zoe Lindo, Robert Buchkowski, Stefan Geisen
Summary: Soil food webs play a crucial role in soil biodiversity, functioning, and stability, and have been the subject of research for over 35 years. This field has seen diversification across various ecological and theoretical approaches, and there is a need for collaboration and empirical validation to move the field forward. With increasing data availability and public awareness, there is a call for synthesis across disciplines and making soil food-web research more accessible to a wider scientific community.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Garvin Schulz, Tessa Camenzind, Laura M. Sanchez-Galindo, Dominik Schneider, Stefan Scheu, Valentyna Krashevska
Summary: This study explores the impacts of increased nitrogen inputs on protists in the tropical Andes using high-throughput sequencing and environmental DNA analysis. The results show that nitrogen concentration strongly affects protist community composition. In addition, the application of AMF and mesofauna measurement techniques further reveals the complex response of protist communities.
JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Haifeng Yin, Yu Su, Size Liu, Xiangjun Li, Xianwei Li, Chuan Fan, Pingting Guan, Zhijing Xie, Simin Wang, Stefan Scheu, Valentyna Krashevska
Summary: Crop-tree thinning can significantly increase the abundance of soil nematodes in plantations and enhance the relative abundance of herbivorous nematodes. The impact of CTT varies among different plantations, mainly due to changes in microbial biomass nitrogen and understory vegetation diversity.