How soil meso-/macro-faunas orchestrate ecosystem multifunctionality under different artificial disturbance conditions in the Changbai Mountain region, China

Biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships have been widely studied in the field of microorganisms in recent years. The research findings revealed that microorganisms positively influence multiple ecosystem functions in diverse ecosystem types. However, the previous studies have neglected the fact that biodiversity at higher trophic levels is also required in order to maintain ecosystem multifunctionality. Here, in this study, the relationships among soil macro/meso faunal diversity, soil functions (C, N, and P functions), and ecosystem multifunctionality under different artificial disturbance conditions were investigated. The results revealed a positive relationship between the soil meso-faunal diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality in primary forest (PM), secondary forest (SF), and deforested land (DL). However, correlations between macro-faunal diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality decreased as the intensity of artificial disturbances increased, and no significant relationships were found in the DL and cultivated land (CL). We suggested that the soil faunal size was the main factor affecting the predictive ability of meso- or macro- faunas, and the soil meso-faunal diversity was more suitable than soil macro-fauna to orchestrate the ecosystem multifunctionality. Further, we demonstrated that the relative effects of the soil functions on ecosystem multifunctionality were changed with the increasing disturbance intensities. We proposed that soil function and meso-/macro-faunas contribute to ecosystem multifunctionality in different ways under natural or artificial disturbances. It was concluded that the relative contributions of the soil meso-/macro-fauna to the ecosystem multifunctionality were manipulated by their size, soil functions, and disturbance intensities.

Automated summary

Biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships have been widely studied in the field of microorganisms. This study investigated the relationships among soil macro/meso faunal diversity, soil functions, and ecosystem multifunctionality under different disturbance conditions. The results revealed a positive relationship between soil meso-faunal diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, while correlations between macro-faunal diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality decreased with increasing disturbance intensities.