Global changes and their environmental stressors have a significant impact on soil biodiversity—A meta-analysis
Helen R.P. Phillips,
Erin K. Cameron,
Nico Eisenhauer,
Victoria J. Burton,
Olga Ferlian,
Yiming Jin,
Sahana Kanabar,
Sandhya Malladi,
Rowan E. Murphy,
Anne Peter,
Isis Petrocelli,
Christian Ristok,
Katharine Tyndall,
Wim van der Putten,
Léa Beaumelle
Affiliations
Helen R.P. Phillips
Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, the Netherlands; Department of Environmental Sciences, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada; Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Corresponding author
Erin K. Cameron
Department of Environmental Sciences, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Nico Eisenhauer
Experimental Interaction Ecology Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Victoria J. Burton
Natural History Museum, London, UK
Olga Ferlian
Experimental Interaction Ecology Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Yiming Jin
Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
Sahana Kanabar
Department of Environmental Sciences, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Sandhya Malladi
JUNIA, Health & Environment, Team Environment, Lille, France
Rowan E. Murphy
Department of Environmental Sciences, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Anne Peter
Experimental Interaction Ecology Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Isis Petrocelli
Experimental Interaction Ecology Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Christian Ristok
Experimental Interaction Ecology Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Katharine Tyndall
Experimental Interaction Ecology Group, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Wim van der Putten
Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, the Netherlands; Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Léa Beaumelle
CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier III, Toulouse, France
Summary: Identifying the main threats to soil biodiversity is crucial as soils harbor ∼60% of global biodiversity. Many previous meta-analyses investigating the impact of different global changes (GCs) on biodiversity have omitted soil fauna or are limited by the GCs studied. We conducted a broad-scale meta-analysis focused on soil fauna communities, analyzing 3,161 effect sizes from 624 publications studying climate change, land-use intensification, pollution, nutrient enrichment, invasive species and habitat fragmentation. Land-use intensification resulted in large reductions in soil fauna communities, especially for the larger-bodied groups. Unexpectedly, pollution caused the largest negative impact on soil biodiversity - particularly worrying due to continually increasing levels of pollution and poor mechanistic understanding of impacts relative to other GCs. Not all GCs and stressors were detrimental; organic-based nutrient enrichment often resulted in positive responses. Including soil biodiversity in large-scale analyses is vital to fully understand the impact of GCs across the different realms.
