Nature Communications (Sep 2020)
The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes
- Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo,
- Peter B. Reich,
- Richard D. Bardgett,
- David J. Eldridge,
- Hans Lambers,
- David A. Wardle,
- Sasha C. Reed,
- César Plaza,
- G. Kenny Png,
- Sigrid Neuhauser,
- Asmeret Asefaw Berhe,
- Stephen C. Hart,
- Hang-Wei Hu,
- Ji-Zheng He,
- Felipe Bastida,
- Sebastián Abades,
- Fernando D. Alfaro,
- Nick A. Cutler,
- Antonio Gallardo,
- Laura García-Velázquez,
- Patrick E. Hayes,
- Zeng-Yei Hseu,
- Cecilia A. Pérez,
- Fernanda Santos,
- Christina Siebe,
- Pankaj Trivedi,
- Benjamin W. Sullivan,
- Luis Weber-Grullon,
- Mark A. Williams,
- Noah Fierer
Affiliations
- Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
- Peter B. Reich
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota
- Richard D. Bardgett
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester
- David J. Eldridge
- Centre for Ecosystem Studies, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
- Hans Lambers
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia
- David A. Wardle
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University
- Sasha C. Reed
- US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center
- César Plaza
- Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
- G. Kenny Png
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester
- Sigrid Neuhauser
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck
- Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced
- Stephen C. Hart
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced
- Hang-Wei Hu
- Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University
- Ji-Zheng He
- Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University
- Felipe Bastida
- CEBAS-CSIC. Department of Soil and Water Conservation. Campus Universitario de Espinardo
- Sebastián Abades
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Universidad Mayor
- Fernando D. Alfaro
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Universidad Mayor
- Nick A. Cutler
- School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University
- Antonio Gallardo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
- Laura García-Velázquez
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide
- Patrick E. Hayes
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia
- Zeng-Yei Hseu
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University
- Cecilia A. Pérez
- Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Las Palmeras
- Fernanda Santos
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced
- Christina Siebe
- Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria
- Pankaj Trivedi
- Microbiome Network and Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University
- Benjamin W. Sullivan
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada
- Luis Weber-Grullon
- Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University
- Mark A. Williams
- School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Noah Fierer
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 14
Abstract
Soil age is thought to be an important driver of ecosystem development. Here, the authors perform a global survey of soil chronosequences and meta-analysis to show that, contrary to expectations, soil age is a relatively minor ecosystem driver at the biome scale once other drivers such as parent material, climate, and vegetation type are accounted for.
