BMC Research Notes (Feb 2021)

Shifts in soil and plant functional diversity along an altitudinal gradient in the French Alps

  • Alexia Stokes,
  • Guillermo Angeles,
  • Fabien Anthelme,
  • Eduardo Aranda-Delgado,
  • Isabelle Barois,
  • Manon Bounous,
  • Nereyda Cruz-Maldonado,
  • Thibaud Decaëns,
  • Stéphane Fourtier,
  • Grégoire T. Freschet,
  • Quentin Gabriac,
  • Daniel Hernández-Cáceres,
  • Leonor Jiménez,
  • Jing Ma,
  • Zhun Mao,
  • Beatriz Eugenia Marín-Castro,
  • Luis Merino-Martín,
  • Awaz Mohamed,
  • Christian Piedallu,
  • Carlos Pimentel-Reyes,
  • Hans Reijnen,
  • Frédérique Reverchon,
  • Hervé Rey,
  • Lavinia Selli,
  • Christina Desireé Siebe-Grabach,
  • Katrin Sieron,
  • Monique Weemstra,
  • Catherine Roumet

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-021-05468-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 4

Abstract

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Abstract Objectives Altitude integrates changes in environmental conditions that determine shifts in vegetation, including temperature, precipitation, solar radiation and edaphogenetic processes. In turn, vegetation alters soil biophysical properties through litter input, root growth, microbial and macrofaunal interactions. The belowground traits of plant communities modify soil processes in different ways, but it is not known how root traits influence soil biota at the community level. We collected data to investigate how elevation affects belowground community traits and soil microbial and faunal communities. This dataset comprises data from a temperate climate in France and a twin study was performed in a tropical zone in Mexico. Data description The paper describes soil physical and chemical properties, climatic variables, plant community composition and species abundance, plant community traits, soil microbial functional diversity and macrofaunal abundance and diversity. Data are provided for six elevations (1400–2400 m) ranging from montane forest to alpine prairie. We focused on soil biophysical properties beneath three dominant plant species that structure local vegetation. These data are useful for understanding how shifts in vegetation communities affect belowground processes, such as water infiltration, soil aggregation and carbon storage. Data will also help researchers understand how plant communities adjust to a changing climate/environment.

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