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The effects of reseeded native Gramineae and Leguminosae species on the multifunctionality of desert steppe have remained unclear. Therefore, we examined a semiarid desert steppe that was reseeded 5 years earlier with a dominant native Gramineae species, Agropyron mongolicum; a dominant native Leguminosae species, Lespedeza potaninii; and a 1:1 reseeded mixture of A. mongolicum × L. potaninii. We evaluated the changes in plant communities and soil properties and then quantified aboveground ecosystem multifunctionality (AEMF), belowground ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF), and overall ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) using an averaging approach. Compared with the native steppe without reseeding, both reseeded A. mongolicum and A. mongolicum × L. potaninii increased fine root volume, plant height, plant cover, aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB), soil water storage (SWS), soil organic carbon, light fraction organic carbon, labile organic carbon, total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen, and total phosphorus (P), but decreased soil bulk density. However, reseeded L. potaninii increased coarse root volume, plant height, plant cover, AGB, BGB, and SWS but decreased plant richness, plant diversity, TN, and total P. In addition, reseeded A. mongolicum and A. mongolicum × L. potaninii increased AEMF, BEMF, and overall EMF, but reseeded L. potaninii only increased AEMF. Further analysis indicated that the fine roots played a crucial role in improving individual ecosystem functions and eventually in determining EMF. Therefore, the reseeding of a desert steppe with Gramineae species has greater potential than with Leguminosae species for improving EMF, since Gramineae species have greater fine roots volume than Leguminosae species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature‐based solutions (NbS) have emerged at the science, policy and practitioner interface to address environmental challenges facing society. NbS involve people working with nature to protect, restore or manage ecosystems. Yet NbS vary to the extent they support biological diversity which has implications for ecological resilience.We reviewed how ecological resilience has been conceptualised in the NbS literature. The literature included reference to both resilience to specific disturbances and general resilience to future environmental change.We found reporting of resilience mechanisms was limited except for afforestation efforts where there is increasing recognition of the role of species diversity in contributing to resilience. Reporting was limited for resilience mechanisms that operate within species and populations (e.g. genetic diversity) and at the landscape scale (e.g. connectivity). Resistance was overlooked despite the prevalence of NbS intended to address climate change. From the broader ecological literature, we distilled resilience mechanisms that have been identified for native and experimental ecosystems and suggested interventions for the emergence of resilience mechanisms in NbS.Synthesis. Interventions to conserve biodiversity such as retaining and restoring ecosystems, are critical given that biodiversity, within and across scales of biological organisation, underpins several ecological resilience mechanisms in NbS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw returning has been broadly recognized as an agronomic strategy to manage soil quality and has great potential to enhance soil fertility. However, soil microbial metabolism and ecosystem multifunctionality in response to various straw returning strategies in the black soil remain poorly understood. Here, a 5‐year field trial was conducted to discover the effects of four straw management strategies (SIDP, straw incorporation by deep ploughing; SIRT, straw incorporation by rotary tillage; SM, straw mulching with no‐tillage; SR, straw removal with no‐tillage) on the soil biochemical properties in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm). SM maintained soil fertility, as evidenced by increases in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon, and nitrogen, compared with SIDP and SR. Additionally, this strategy promoted microbial biomass. It also stimulated nutrient cycling through increased enzyme activity. Meanwhile, SM alleviated microbial carbon limitation and promoted the shift of soil microbial metabolism from P limitation to N limitation compared to other treatments, especially in the subsoil. This shift was directly influenced by soil available nutrients and microbial properties, as revealed by the partial least‐squares path modeling analysis. Besides, SM promoted soil ecosystem multifunctionality by 29%–37% in both soil layers compared to SIDP and SR. Random forest analysis indicated that soil microbial biomass and activity were the main drivers of this increase in multifunctionality. In conclusion, straw returning with no‐tillage is an optimal straw management strategy for improving the soil biochemical properties, stimulating enzyme activities, alleviating microbial carbon limitation, and increasing ecosystem multifunctionality in the Northeast Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil aggregates, which are highly influenced by land conversion, play key roles in driving soil nutrient distribution and microbial colonization. However, the role of soil aggregates in shaping the responses of microbial community composition and multiple ecosystem functions, especially ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF), to land conversion remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the impact of the conversion of a longan orchard (LO) to a conventional tea plantation (CTP) and organic tea plantation (OTP) on soil EMF at the aggregate level and explored the underlying mechanism. Our results showed that EMF was significantly reduced in the conventional tea plantation, with 3.44, 1.79, and 1.24 times for large macro-, macro-, and micro-aggregates. In contrast, it was relatively preserved in the organic tea plantation. Notably, micro-aggregates with higher microbial biomass supported more EMF than larger aggregates under the land conversion conditions. The EMF associated with soil aggregates was found to be regulated by the differences in nutrient content and microbial community composition. Random forest analysis, redundancy analysis, and Pearson analysis indicated that both soil nutrient and microbial community composition within soil aggregates jointly determined EMF. This study highlights that soil aggregation influences the stratification of nutrients and microbial communities, which leads to the differing response of aggregate-related EMF to land conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade-offs between soil functions hamper maximizing soil multifunctionality in agroecosystems. Taking soil microbial functional trade-offs into consideration in agricultural management is crucial for optimizing the impacts of changes in soil microbial communities on soil health in agroecosystems. Interactions within soil microbial communities influence functional trade-offs. Manipulating soil microbial diversity and interactions through soil health-improving management can alleviate functional trade-offs and improve soil health and agricultural sustainability. Better mechanistic understanding of the interdependencies between soil-induced functions is essential to improve soil health and agricultural sustainability. Soil microbial communities play pivotal roles in maintaining soil health in agroecosystems. However, how the delivery of multiple microbial functions in agroecosystems is maintained remains poorly understood. This may put us at risk of incurring unexpected trade-offs between soil functions. We elucidate how interactions between soil microbes can lead to trade-offs in the functioning of agricultural soils. Interactions within soil microbial communities can result in not only positive but also neutral and negative relationships among soil functions. Altering soil conditions through soil health-improving agricultural management can alleviate these functional trade-offs by promoting the diversity and interrelationships of soil microbes, which can help to achieve more productive and sustainable agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil health is a critical component of nature‐based solutions (NbS), underpinning ecosystem multifunctionality and resilience by supporting biodiversity, improving carbon sequestration and storage, regulating water flow and enhancing plant productivity. For this reason, NbS often aim to protect soil health and restore degraded soil. Robust monitoring of soil health is needed to adaptively manage NbS projects, identify best practices and minimize trade‐offs between goals, but soil assessment is often underrepresented in NbS monitoring programmes. This paper examines challenges and opportunities in selecting suitable soil health metrics. We find that standardization can facilitate widespread monitoring of soil health, with benefits for stakeholders and user groups. However, standardization brings key challenges, including the complexity and local variability of soil systems and the diverse priorities, skills and resources of stakeholders. To address this, we propose a flexible, interdisciplinary approach combining soil science, ecology and socio‐economic insights. We introduce an interactive tool to help users select suitable soil and biodiversity metrics, which are context and scale‐specific, and suggest avenues for future research. We conclude that integrating soil health into NbS through new and improved monitoring approaches, newly available datasets, supportive policies and stakeholder collaboration can enhance the resilience and effectiveness of NbS, contributing significantly to global sustainability goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid urbanization and economic development, the area of paddy fields has seriously declined in rice‐producing region. However, the impacts of land use change (LUC) on soil enzymatic stoichiometry, microbial metabolic limitations and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) have not been well‐documented. Hence, four adjacent paired soil samples were collected in rice‐producing areas. Soil microbial carbon (C), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen metabolic limitations were assessed via vector model. The impacts of LUC on soil structure, microbial activity, quality and multifunctionality were evaluated via soil structure stability index (SSI), soil biological activity (SBA), soil quality index (SQI) and EMF, respectively. Result showed that LUC from rice paddies to upland fields markedly decreased soil structure stability by 19.6%. Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), microbial biomass phosphorus (MBP) and nutrient‐acquiring enzymes activities in the paddy soils were significantly higher than that in upland soil. Compared with paddy soil, microbial relative C and P limitations in upland soil were significantly aggravated by 10.9% and 4.2%, respectively. Additionally, variation partitioning and redundancy analyses revealed that soil pH, available P and P‐acquiring enzymes were the crucial edaphic factors affecting microbial metabolic limitations. Comprehensive assessment showed that LUC from rice paddies to upland fields significantly reduced SBA, SQI and EMF by 5.2%, 17.4% and 17.2%, accordingly. Overall, LUC from rice paddies to upland fields significantly destroyed soil structure, aggravated microbial relative C and P limitations and reduced soil quality. Therefore, artificial managements should be strengthened to counteract the adverse effects of LUC on soil quality and EMF. This study deepened our understanding of sustainable development and efficient management of field under LUC condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global change and the intensification of human activities have led to a sharp decline in global biodiversity and other ecological issues. Over the past 30 years, ecologists have increasingly focused on the question of whether and how the ongoing loss of biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning. However, historically, researchers have predominantly concentrated on individual ecosystem functions, neglecting the capacity of ecosystems to provide multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously, known as ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). As a result, the connection between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF) has become the central theme in BEF relationship research. In recent years, the research on the BEMF relationship has developed rapidly, and new progress has been made in different ecosystems, the driving mechanism of the BEMF relationship, and the proposal and application of new quantitative methods. However, there are still shortcomings, such as the lack of uniform standards for the selection of functional indicators in EMF research, insufficient attention to belowground microbial diversity, and less research on biological interactions in addition to biodiversity. In the future, we need to enhance standard research on the selection of functional indicators, thoroughly assess the combined effects of aboveground and belowground biodiversity along with abiotic factors on EMF, and bolster the research and application of ecosystem multiserviceability (EMS) methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Mycorrhizal associations are key mutualisms that shape the structure of forest communities and multiple ecosystem functions. However, we lack a framework for predicting the varying dominance of distinct mycorrhizal associations in an integrated proxy of multifunctionality across ecosystems.Here, we used the datasets containing diversity of mycorrhizal associations and 18 ecosystem processes related to supporting, provisioning, and regulating services to examine how the dominance of ectomycorrhiza (EcM) associations affects ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical mountain forests in Southwest China. Meanwhile, we synthesized the prevalence of EcM‐dominant effects on ecosystem functioning in forest biomes.Our results demonstrated that elevation significantly modified the distributions of EcM trees and fungal dominance, which in turn influenced multiple functions simultaneously. Multifunctionality increased with increasing proportion of EcM associations, supporting the ectomycorrhizal‐dominance hypothesis. Meanwhile, we observed that the impacts of EcM dominance on individual ecosystem functions exhibited different relationships among forest biomes.Our findings highlight the importance of ectomycorrhizal dominance in regulating multifunctionality in subtropical forests. However, this ectomycorrhizal feedback in shaping ecosystem functions cannot necessarily be generalized across forests. Therefore, we argue that the predictions for ecosystem multifunctionality in response to the shifts of mycorrhizal composition could vary across space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global biodiversity loss has generated great interest in the role of plant communities in driving ecosystem functions. There is limited understanding of how soil properties, plant richness and plant community composition interact to affect ecosystem multifunctionality.We conducted a constructed ecosystem experiment by simultaneously manipulating soil origin (i.e. fertile farmland soil and relatively infertile bare land soil), plant richness and community composition (one‐species monoculture, and all possible two‐, three‐ and four‐species combinations of five plants) to evaluate their influence on ecosystem multifunctionality related to the accumulation of biomass, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in plants, greenhouse gas emissions, soil nutrients, soil N fixation and mineralization of N and phosphorus (P).We found that ecosystem multifunctionality was significantly affected by soil origin, plant community composition and the community‐weighted mean (CWM) of plant biomass, but not by plant richness.We grouped the community composition into the N‐fixing group (including N‐fixing plants) and the non‐N‐fixing group (excluding N‐fixing plants). The N‐fixing plant group exhibited significantly higher multifunctionality than the non‐N‐fixing species group in both soil origins. For bare land soil, multifunctionality increased with the increasing relative abundance and biomass ratio of Albizia julibrissin (N‐fixing species) in communities, but decreased with the biomass ratio of Platycladus orientalis (non‐N‐fixing species). For farmland soil, multifunctionality increased with the abundance of Toona sinensis (non‐N‐fixing species) and the biomass ratio of Albizia julibrissin, but decreased with the abundance and biomass ratio of Morus alba (non‐N‐fixing species). These results indicate that the key species determining ecosystem multifunctionality vary under different soil conditions.Synthesis and applications: We propose that plant community composition and the relative abundance and biomass ratio of key species drive ecosystem multifunctionality. We suggest that selecting the appropriate plant combination under different soil conditions should be emphasized in ecological restoration projects. Our study highlights the differentiated roles of key species on ecosystem functions under different resource conditions. The N fixation in general plays a crucial role in driving ecosystem multifunctionality and the N‐fixing plants can serve as restoration tools in nutrient‐poor degraded lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystems have the ability to maintain multiple ecological functions and services at the same time, which is known as Ecosystem Multifunctionality (EM) . In recent years, as the impact of global change on ecosystems has gradually increased, researches on the multifunctionality of terrestrial ecosystems have gradually become a hot topic. This study elaborates on the development and current research status of terrestrial ecosystems multifunctionality in terms of conceptual development, hot trend, indicator quantification, and influencing factors. The result shows the following: Since the concept of“multifunctionality”was first proposed in 2004, studies in this field began to grow exponentially in 2018. During this period, some scholars refined the classification of the definition of ecosystem multifunctionality and proposed the impact of biodiversity on EM. Through bibliometric analysis, it is revealed that terrestrial ecosystems receives more attention than aquatic ecosystems, and the research of ecosystem multifunctionality mainly focuses on the field of biodiversity and multifunctionality. By comprehensive analysis of the impact of global change on the multifunctionality of terrestrial ecosystems, it is found that biodiversity promotes the multifunctionality of terrestrial ecosystem, climate change and land use change can inhibit the multifunctionality of terrestrial ecosystem. Therefore, effective policies and measures need to be formulated to protect the integrity and stability of terrestrial ecosystems multifunctionality and to ensure the sustainable development of human society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Biodiversity across different scales provides multidimensional insurance for ecosystem functioning. Although the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem multifunctionality are well recorded in local communities, they remain poorly understood across scales (from local to larger spatial scales). This study evaluates how multiple attributes of biodiversity maintain ecosystem multifunctionality from local to regional scales, across diverse environmental gradients. Location: North‐eastern China. Time Period: 2017. Major Taxa Studied: Woody plants. Methods: We define multifunctionality using both averaged and modified multiple‐threshold approaches. Multiple dimensions of biodiversity across varying spatial scales were measured within the framework of Hill–Chao numbers. Using variance decomposition, linear mixed models and structural equation modelling, we explored how multiple attributes of tree diversity at varying spatial scales affect multifunctionality, and how these relationships are modulated by environmental drivers. Results: We found that both α‐ and β‐diversity are critical for regional community multifunctionality, while the relationships between species, functional and phylogenetic diversity and multifunctionality decoupled across spatial scales and thresholds of ecosystem functioning. Phylogenetic β‐diversity and species α‐diversity are, respectively, more important for promoting high‐ and moderate‐threshold multifunctionality (e.g. EMFT90 and EMFT50) in regional communities. Environmental drivers typically have stronger effects than biodiversity on multifunctionality. Soil and climatic conditions had either direct effects on multifunctionality or indirect ones mediated by species α‐diversity. Environmental heterogeneity is important for high‐threshold multifunctionality, exerting directly and indirectly through phylogenetic β‐diversity. Latitude not only directly influences multifunctionality but also modulates it through species α‐diversity and phylogenetic β‐diversity. Main Conclusions: This study underscores the positive effects of biodiversity on multifunctionality across multiple dimensions. Based on our findings, we conclude that any design of a forested landscape that is aimed at maximizing multifunctionality should consider maintaining high local diversity as well as forest community heterogeneity at varying scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of plant biodiversity in stabilizing ecosystem multifunctionality has been extensively studied; however, the impact of soil biota biodiversity on ecosystem multifunctional stability, particularly under multiple environmental changes, remains unexplored. By conducting an experiment with environmental changes (adding water and nitrogen to a long‐term grazing experiment) and an experiment without environmental changes (an undisturbed site) in semi‐arid grasslands, our research revealed that environmental changes‐induced changes in temporal stability of both above‐ and belowground multifunctionality were mainly impacted by plant and soil biota asynchrony, rather than by species diversity. Furthermore, changes in temporal stability of above‐ and belowground multifunctionality, under both experiments with and without environmental changes, were mainly associated with plant and soil biota asynchrony, respectively, suggesting that the temporal asynchrony of plant and soil biota has independent and non‐substitutable effects on multifunctional stability. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering both above‐ and belowground biodiversity or functions when evaluating the stabilizing effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem multifunctionality means that the ecosystem has the ability to provide multiple functions simultaneously. The study of the ecosystem multifunctionality provides an important basis for the understanding of the ecosystem function and management. Despite the plant community restoration is an important driver of changes in biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, we still little know about the scaling effects the relationship between different dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. In this study, we investigated the relative contributions of different dimensions of plant diversity (e.g., species diversity, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity) changes in ecosystem multifunctionality under different restoration stages (10, 30 and 40 years) in a human-damaged Liaodong oak (Quercus wutaishanica) plant communities in northern China. The results found that (1) ecosystem multifunctionality index was significantly higher in the middle (30 years) and late (40 years) stages of restoration than the early stage (10 years) of restoration. (2) Species richness and phylogenetic diversity were significantly higher in the early stage (10 years) of restoration than in the middle (30 years) and late (40 years) stages of restoration, however, functional dispersion was significantly higher in the later stages (40 years) of restoration than in the early (10 years) and middle stages (30 years) of restoration. (3) Ecosystem multifunctionality is primarily driven by photosynthetic traits of dominant species. The results of this study deepen the under-standing of the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality in the forests of northern China by considering natural restoration after destruction, and contribute to the conservation of plant diversity and maintenance of ecosystem multifunctionality.

Abstract Background Mixed forests are better than monoculture forests in biodiversity, stand structure and productivity stability. However, a more comprehensive assessment of the ecosystem functions of monoculture and mixed plantations is lacking. We compared the single functions and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) in Fraxinus mandshurica and Larix olgensis mixed plantations with monoculture plantations in Northeast China and discussed the influences of biodiversity and environmental factors on EMF. Results The mixed plantations had higher biodiversity and ecological functions. Biodiversity was significantly higher in mixed plantations (such as CWMMH, Shrub.Shannon, Shrub.Richness, Herb.Shannon, Herb.Richness), but environmental factors differed less among the three forest types, and belowground diversity differed significantly only in the Bacterial.Shannon and Fungal.Shannon. Mixed plantations showed significant differences in single ecological functions relative to monoculture plantations, with more pronounced differences between mixed plantations and Larix olgensis monoculture plantations. Weighted ecosystem multifunctionality was significantly higher in mixed plantations than in monoculture plantations. EMF was mainly driven by tree diversity, environmental factors, shrub and herb species diversity, and soil microbial alpha diversity, which explained 25.35%, 8.94%, 8.83%, and 7.65% of the variation, respectively. Conclusions The establishment of mixed plantations can increase the biodiversity of forest stands and improve the ecosystem functions. These results highlight the advantages of multi-species plantations and the necessity of planting them. They are important for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of plantations.

Background: Mixed forests are better than monoculture forests in biodiversity, stand structure and productivity stability. However, a more comprehensive assessment of the ecosystem functions of monoculture and mixed plantations is lacking. We compared the single functions and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) in Fraxinus mandshurica and Larix olgensis mixed plantations with monoculture plantations in Northeast China and discussed the influences of biodiversity and environmental factors on EMF. Results: The mixed plantations had higher biodiversity and ecological functions. Biodiversity was significantly higher in mixed plantations (such as CWMMH, Shrub.Shannon, Shrub.Richness, Herb.Shannon, Herb.Richness), but environmental factors differed less among the three forest types, and below ground diversity differed significantly only in the Bacterial.Shannon and Fungal.Shannon. Mixed plantations showed significant differences in single ecological functions relative to monoculture plantations, with more pronounced differences between mixed plantations and Larix olgensis monoculture plantations. Weighted ecosystem multifunctionality was significantly higher in mixed plantations than in monoculture plantations. EMF was mainly driven by tree diversity, environmental factors, shrub and herb species diversity, and soil microbial alpha diversity, which explained 25.35%, 8.94%, 8.83%, and 7.65% of the variation, respectively. Conclusions: The establishment of mixed plantations can increase the biodiversity of forest stands and improve the ecosystem functions. These results highlight the advantages of multi-species plantations and the necessity of planting them. They are important for the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgrounds: Climate change is well-known to alter the structure and function of grassland ecosystems, and multifunctionality contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of climate change on ecosystem functions. Warming and humidification are predicted to be the climate change trend on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, understanding of how long-term warming and increased precipitation affect ecosystem multifunctionality in alpine meadows is still limited. Methods: Here, we conducted an 8-year field experiment involving warming and increased precipitation in an alpine meadow to explore how warming, increased precipitation, and their interaction affect ecosystem multifunctionality. Results: The results indicated that increased precipitation had a positive effect on ecosystem multifunctionality. However, warming and the interaction of warming and precipitation had no significant effects on it. Warming decreased species richness and plant coverage. Increased precipitation enhanced aboveground carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) pools of plant community, and soil moisture, but decreased soil pH. Aboveground P and N pools of plant community and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) were important predictors of ecosystem multifunctionality. Conclusion: This study demonstrated long-term increased precipitation can enhance ecosystem multifunctionality by indirectly affecting the individual functions (aboveground P and N pools of plant community and MBN), soil moisture, and pH in an alpine meadow. These findings highlighted that increased precipitation is more critical than warming for enhancing ecosystem multifunctionality in semi-arid alpine meadows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms, especially rare microbial species, are crucial in estuarine ecosystems for driving biogeochemical processes and preserving biodiversity. However, the understanding of the links between ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) and the diversity of rare bacterial taxa in estuary ecosystems remains limited. Employing high-throughput sequencing and a variety of statistical methods, we assessed the diversities and assembly process of abundant and rare bacterioplankton and their contributions to EMF in a subtropical estuary. Taxonomic analysis revealed Proteobacteria as the predominant phylum among both abundant and rare bacterial taxa. Notably, rare taxa demonstrated significantly higher taxonomic diversity and a larger species pool than abundant taxa. Additionally, our findings highlighted that deterministic assembly processes predominantly shape microbial communities, with heterogeneous selection exerting a stronger influence on rare taxa. Further analysis reveals that rare bacterial beta-diversity significantly impacts to EMF, whereas alpha diversity did not. The partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) analysis demonstrated that the beta diversity of abundant and rare taxa, as the main biotic factor, directly affected EMF, while temperature and total organic carbon (TOC) were additional key factors to determine the relationship between beta diversity and EMF. These findings advance our understanding of the distribution features and ecological knowledge of the abundant and rare taxa in EMF in subtropical estuaries, and provide a reference for exploring the multifunctionality of different biospheres in aquatic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil nematodes are among the most significant soil-dwelling organisms in forest ecosystems. However, the factors that shape the distribution of soil nematodes are still not well explored. Therefore, we collected soil samples from 20 forest sites along the eastern transect of China and sequenced 18S rRNA V9 region to reveal the biodiversity of soil nematodes. Our study found that soil nematode richness is higher in temperate mixed needleleaf and broadleaf forests compared with the other four vegetation regions. Soil physiochemical properties overrode climatic factors to be the primary drivers of soil nematode richness and community composition. Importantly, the soil nematode richness significantly enhanced ecosystem multifunctionality, especially bacterial biomass and enzyme activities, with a determination coefficient (r2) of 0.23, suggesting that soil nematodes played essential roles in the forest ecosystem.

Ecosystem multifunctionality reflects the capacity of ecosystems to simultaneously maintain multiple functions which are essential bases for human sustainable development. Whereas viruses are a major component of the soil microbiome that drive ecosystem functions across biomes, the relationships between soil viral diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality remain under-studied. To address this critical knowledge gap, we employed a combination of amplicon and metagenomic sequencing to assess prokaryotic, fungal and viral diversity, and to link viruses to putative hosts. We described the features of viruses and their potential hosts in 154 soil samples from 29 farmlands and 25 forests distributed across China. Although 4,460 and 5,207 viral populations (vOTUs) were found in the farmlands and forests respectively, the diversity of specific vOTUs rather than overall soil viral diversity was positively correlated with ecosystem multifunctionality in both ecosystem types. Furthermore, the diversity of these keystone vOTUs, despite being 10–100 times lower than prokaryotic or fungal diversity, was a better predictor of ecosystem multifunctionality and more strongly associated with the relative abundances of prokaryotic genes related to soil nutrient cycling. Gemmatimonadota and Actinobacteria dominated the host community of soil keystone viruses in the farmlands and forests respectively, but were either absent or showed a significantly lower relative abundance in that of soil non-keystone viruses. These findings provide novel insights into the regulators of ecosystem multifunctionality and have important implications for the management of ecosystem functioning.

Biodiversity is widely recognized as a crucial factor in driving ecosystem functioning. However, the processes that sustain forest ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) through plant and soil microbial diversity are not yet fully understood. Here, we assessed eight ecosystem functions in a mixed temperate forest using averaging and weighted threshold methods to examine the associations between EMF and diversity across environmental gradients. The findings indicated that structural attributes serve as the optimal predictor of EMF. Both complementarity and selection effects had minor impacts on EMF, while the jack-of-all-trades effect drove the relationship between plant diversity and EMF. EMF was positively correlated with soil fungal diversity but negatively correlated with soil bacterial diversity. Soil microbial diversity influenced forest EMF by regulating the trade-offs between different functions. Additionally, we noted that forests situated on steep slopes may experience limitations in terms of multifunctionality, while nutrient-rich soils had a facilitative effect. This study underscores the significance of taking into account both aboveground and belowground diversity to improve forest functions. Within a certain range, more complex and diverse stand structures are effective strategies for sustainable forest management.

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Climate factors can impact the multifunctionality of steppe ecosystem by altering plant diversity. The pivotal role of diversity in mediating these effects is of paramount importance. Given that various facets of plant diversity exhibit diverse responses to climate change and impart distinct impacts on steppe ecosystem multifunctionality, the elucidation of how different dimensions of diversity mediate the effects of climate factors on steppe ecosystem multifunctionality assumes significance. The study area of this research was the typical steppe in Hulun Buir. Its main objective was to examine the direct and indirect impacts of climate factors on plant diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. The findings showed that, in terms of the role played by climatic factors, precipitation had a greater effect on species diversity, while functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity were mainly influenced by temperature. The impact of climatic factors on below-ground ecosystem multifunctionality was notably substantial. With regard to the mediating role of plant diversity, species diversity played a greater role in moderating the effects of climatic factors on above- and below-ground ecosystem multifunctionality, while functional and phylogenetic diversity were important in mediating the effects of above- and below-ground ecosystem multifunctionality, respectively. To summarize, this study elucidates the correlation between multiple plant community diversities and ecosystem multifunctionality in a typical steppe under climate change, along with the potential mechanisms through which plant diversity moderates the influence of climate factors on ecosystem multifunctionality. Overall, species diversity and functional diversity take precedence over phylogenetic diversity, which can better predict the ecosystem multifunctionality of steppe and provide guidance for the conservation and sustainability of steppe plant diversity.

Microplastics (MPs) are widely identified as emerging hazards causing considerable eco-toxicity in terrestrial ecosystems, but the impacts differ in different ecosystem functions among different chemical compositions, morphology, sizes, concentrations, and experiment duration. Given the close relationships and trade-offs between plant and soil systems, probing the “whole ecosystem” instead of individual functions must yield novel insights into MPs affecting terrestrial ecosystems. Here, a comprehensive meta-analysis was employed to reveal an unambiguous response of the plant-soil-microbial system to MPs. Results showed that in view of plant, soil, and microbial functions, the general response patterns of plant and soil functions to MPs were obviously opposite. For example, polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) MPs highly increased plant functions, while posed negative effects on soil functions. Polystyrene (PS) and biodegradable (Bio) MPs decreased plant functions, while stimulating soil functions. Additionally, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), PE, PS, PVC, Bio, and granular MPs significantly decreased soil microbial functions. These results clearly revealed that MPs alter the equilibrium of the plant-soil-microbial system. More importantly, our results further revealed that MPs tended to increase ecosystem multifunctionality, e.g., LDPE and PVC MPs posed positive effects on ecosystem multifunctionality, PE, PS, and Bio MPs showed neutral effects on ecosystem multifunctionality. Linear regression analysis showed that under low MPs size ( 5% w/w). These findings emphasize the importance of studying the effects of MPs on plant-soil-microbial systems and help us identify ways to reduce the eco-toxicity of MPs and maintain environmental safety in view of an ecology perspective.

Aim: Biodiversity is known to affect ecosystem functioning, and environmental stress may influence the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (BEF). However, it is still unknown how the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (BEMF) varies with the environment at regional scale. We aimed to explore the change of BEMF relationship across environmental gradients in boreal and temperate forest ecosystems, and to identify the main impact mechanisms on EMF. Methods: Based on a data set collected in Northeastern China, we quantified EMF by calculating the average of six individual functions, defined species richness and functional diversity as community diversity, and defined the community-weighted means of functional traits as functional composition. We used multifactorial linear regression to assess the effect of biodiversity indices across environmental gradients on BEMF, and used structural equation models to identify the relationships among impact factors and EMF. Results: Community diversity and functional composition, as well as their interactions with environmental gradients, were jointly influencing the EMF. In the boreal forests, functional composition was the dominant driver of EMF. In the temperate forests, community diversity became the dominant factor impacting EMF. Main conclusions: The results imply that BEMF relationship changes with environmental conditions. EMF is mainly influenced by the community functional traits of the dominant species (mass ratio effect) in the boreal forests. In the temperate forests, greater community diversity leads to greater resource utilization and thus greater EMF (niche complementarity effect).

Ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) plays an irreplaceable role in maintaining ecological balance and safeguarding human survival and development. However, a few studies have focused on the changing patterns of multiple ecosystem functions and EMF under different grazing intensities. The study investigated EMF of mountain meadow grasslands on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains in China, through plant community surveys and high-throughput sequencing technology. The study calculated the ecosystem single function and EMF using the single-function method and the mean value method, and explored the effects of no grazing, light grazing, and heavy grazing on the EMF of the grassland. The results showed that the EMF index of grassland ecosystems under grazing conditions ranged from 0.3328 to 0.6018. Compared with no grazing, heavy grazing significantly increased the moisture regulation (MR) function (p < 0.05) and significantly decreased the grass productivity (GP) function and EMF (p < 0.05). While, soil fertility (SF), soil carbon storage (SCS), and nutrient conversion and cycling (NC) functions were not significantly different under the three grazing treatments. The ecosystem functions that contributed most to EMF were GP, SCS, and NC functions under no grazing, light grazing, and heavy grazing conditions, respectively. Under grazing conditions, there were coordination, trade-offs, and neutral relationships between EMF and other ecosystem single functions. The coordinated relationship of EMF and SCS function (r = 0.76, p < 0.05) was strongest, and the trade-offs relationship of EMF and MR function was strongest (r = 0.68, p < 0.05). The results of structural equation modeling indicated that grazing could have a significant effect on EMF directly on the one hand, and indirectly through soil fungal diversity on the other hand. Therefore, grazing plays a key role in maintaining EMF by regulating the function of aboveground and belowground ecosystems mainly through soil fungal diversity. In addition, reasonable reduction of grazing intensity is the most effective management method to maintain ecosystem function. This study elucidated the response of EMF to grazing intensity in mountain grassland, and provided a theoretical basis for the restoration of degraded grassland and the sustainable development of the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Although the relationships between biodiversity and individual ecosystem functions under resource enrichment have been extensively studied, there is limited understanding of how resource‐induced changes affect ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability, along with the underlying biological mechanisms. Location: Inner Mongolia, China. Methods: We investigated the impact of biodiversity mechanisms on ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability through a 3‐year field experiment. This experiment involved augmenting growing season precipitation and nitrogen deposition, conducted in a typical steppe ecosystem of Inner Mongolia alongside regular mowing. Results: Our findings revealed that the addition of water (W) and nitrogen (N) had varying effects on ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability. The combination of N and W additions enhanced ecosystem multifunctionality, whereas both W and N + W additions promoted the temporal stability of ecosystem multifunctionality. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that the community‐weighted mean height, in response to nitrogen addition, played a key role in enhancing ecosystem multifunctionality. By contrast, increased species asynchrony because of water addition and greater functional diversity in terms of leaf area contributed to heightened temporal stability of ecosystem multifunctionality. Furthermore, the positive effects of community‐weighted mean height on ecosystem multifunctionality exhibited a gradual increase with rising threshold levels. Conclusions: Our study provides the first evidence of the independent effects of selection, exemplified by community‐weighted mean and complementarity, represented by factors such as species richness, functional diversity and species asynchrony on both ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability. This underscores how global change factors can directly influence ecosystem multifunctionality and its temporal stability while also indirectly modulating biodiversity effects in the short term. Overall, our findings underscore the vital role of biodiversity conservation in enhancing grassland management and the delivery of ecosystem services in the context of global change, particularly in regions subject to extensive mowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) is critical to understanding the dynamics of ecosystem services. Several studies have investigated alterations in multiple ecosystem functions under grassland degradation and its relationship with taxonomic diversity. However, how multidimensional biodiversity (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity) and abiotic factors mediate EMF in degraded alpine meadows has yet to be well been explored. In this study, alpine meadows with different degrees of degradation were investigated in Maqu County, Gansu Province, China. The average and multi‐threshold methods were used to quantify EMF, while structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for statistical analysis. The results show that: (1) Degradation of alpine meadows has altered the species composition and diversity of plant communities. (2) Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity were all significantly and positively correlated with EMF, and species richness, functional richness and Faith's PD effectively drive EMF within thresholds of 22%–75%, 20%–86% and 42%–72%, with maximum effects of 0.29, 0.33 and 0.12, respectively. (3) Degradation of alpine meadows directly and significantly reduced EMF, and mediated indirectly through plant diversity and soil abiotic factors. The multifunctionality index for different degrees of degradation showed non‐degraded (60.89) > light degraded (37.84) > moderate degraded (−14.17) > heavy degraded (−48.55). The results of this study reveal the relative importance of multidimensional plant diversity in predicting EMF of degraded alpine meadows, and potential mechanisms by which plant diversity and abiotic factors mediate the effects of alpine meadow degradation on EMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Soil acidification caused by anthropogenic activities may affect soil biochemical cycling, biodiversity, productivity, and multiple ecosystem-related functions in drylands. However, to date, such information is lacking to support this hypothesis. Methods: Based on a transect survey of 78 naturally assembled shrub communities, we calculated acid deposition flux in Northwest China and evaluated its likely ecological effects by testing three alternative hypotheses, namely: niche complementarity, mass ratio, and vegetation quantity hypotheses. Rao's quadratic entropy and communityweighted mean traits were employed to represent the complementary aspect of niche complementarity and mass ratio effects, respectively. Results: We observed that in the past four decades, the concentrations of exchangeable base cations in soil in Northwest China have decreased significantly to the extent of having faced the risk of depletion, whereas changes in the calcium carbonate content and pH of soil were not significant. Acid deposition primarily increased the aboveground biomass and shrub density in shrublands but had no significant effect on shrub richness and ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF), indicating that acid deposition had positive but weak ecological effects on dryland ecosystems. Community weighted mean of functional traits (representing the mass ratio hypothesis) correlated negatively with EMF, whereas both Rao's quadratic entropy (representing the niche complementarity hypothesis) and aboveground biomass (representing the vegetation quantity hypothesis) correlated positively but insignificantly with EMF. These biodiversity--EMF relationships highlight the fragility and instability of drylands relative to forest ecosystems. Conclusions: The findings from this study serve as important reference points to understand the risk of soil acidification in arid regions and its impacts on biodiversity--EMF relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Plants and soils are key factors in maintaining ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). Yet, it remains unclear how climate factors regulate the EMF through soil properties and plant diversity of different plant functional groups in primary dark coniferous forests of subalpine regions. Methods: Nine functional indicators related to carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus cycling and plant productivity, four leaf functional traits, mean annual precipitation (MAP) and mean annual temperature (MAT) were collected from 50 primary dark coniferous forests in ten sites on the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The EMF was calculated using two approaches. The averaging approach involves converting and averaging the functional indicators, and the multiple threshold approach quantifies the number of functions across different thresholds. Results: MAP promoted EMF. Soil water content and shrub species richness had a significant positive effect on EMF, whereas herb species richness had a negative effect. Functional diversity and specific leaf area of tree species rather than richness had a significant positive effect on EMF, indicating the increase in functional traits was beneficial to EMF. Climatic factors could directly or indirectly affect EMF through species richness, functional diversity, and soil abiotic factors. Conclusions: The effects of species richness on EMF varied among different plant functional groups, possibly related to different mechanisms, and highlighted the role of functional diversity in maintaining EMF. Spatial variation in climate could modify soil properties and plant diversity, further affecting EMF in primary dark coniferous forests. Hence, these findings should be considered in future predictions of how a changing climate could affect EMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decomposition of litter and the supply of nutrients into and from the soil are two fundamental processes through which the above‐ and belowground world interact. Microbial biodiversity, and especially that of decomposers, plays a key role in these processes by helping litter decomposition. Yet the relative contribution of litter diversity and soil biodiversity in supporting multiple ecosystem services remains virtually unknown. Here we conducted a mesocosm experiment where leaf litter and soil biodiversity were manipulated to investigate their influence on plant productivity, litter decomposition, soil respiration, and enzymatic activity in the littersphere. We showed that both leaf litter diversity and soil microbial diversity (richness and community composition) independently contributed to explain multiple ecosystem functions. Fungal saprobes community composition was especially important for supporting ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF), plant production, litter decomposition, and activity of soil phosphatase when compared with bacteria or other fungal functional groups and litter species richness. Moreover, leaf litter diversity and soil microbial diversity exerted previously undescribed and significantly interactive effects on EMF and multiple individual ecosystem functions, such as litter decomposition and plant production. Together, our work provides experimental evidence supporting the independent and interactive roles of litter and belowground soil biodiversity to maintain ecosystem functions and multiple services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasslands across arid and semi‐arid regions are predicted to experience reductions in precipitation frequency. Besides, grassland degradation has become a serious problem in many of these areas. Despite increasing evidence suggesting compound effects of these synchronous alterations on biotic and abiotic ecosystem constituents, we still do not know how they will impact the coupling among ecosystem constituents and its consequences on ecosystem functioning.Here, we assessed the effects of decreased precipitation frequency and grassland degradation on ecosystem coupling, quantified based on the mean strength of pairwise correlations among multispecies communities and their physicochemical environment, individual functions and ecosystem multifunctionality, and reported their relationships within a mechanistic plant–nematode–micro‐organism–soil interactions framework.Decreased precipitation frequency led to poorly coupled ecosystems, and reduced aboveground plant biomass, soil water content, soil nutrient levels, soil biota abundance and multifunctionality. By contrast, belowground plant biomass and soil potential enzyme activities increased under decreased precipitation frequency treatment. Severe degradation resulted in decoupled ecosystems and suppressed most of individual functions and multifunctionality. Using structural equation modelling, we showed that coupling had a strong direct positive effect on multifunctionality (standardized total effect: 0.74), while multifunctionality was weakened by greater soil water variation (−0.54) and higher soil pH (−0.53).The great sensitivity of ecosystem coupling to altered precipitation regimes and degradation highlights the importance of considering interactions among biotic and abiotic components when predicting early ecological impacts under changing environments. Moreover, the positive relationship between ecosystem coupling and functioning suggests that restoration of degraded grasslands may be achieved by intensifying ecological interactions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Dryland ecosystems face serious threats from climate change. Establishing the spatial pattern of ecosystem multifunctionality, maximum height and the correlation of biodiversity patterns with climate change is important for understanding changes in complex ecosystem processes. However, the understanding of their relationships across large spatial areas remains limited in drylands. Methods: Accordingly, this study examined the spatial patterns of ecosystem multifunctionality, maximum height and considered a set of potential environmental drivers by investigating natural shrub communities in Northwest China. Results: We found that the ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) and maximum height of shrub communities were both affected by longitude, which was positively correlated with the precipitation gradient. Specifically, the EMF was driven by high precipitation seasonality, and the maximum height was driven by high precipitation stability during the growing season. Among the multiple biodiversity predictors, species beta diversity (SD-beta) is the most common in determining EMF, although this relationship is weak. Discussion: Unlike tree life form, we did not observe biodiversity-maximum height relationships in shrub communities. Based on these results, we suggest that more attention should be paid to the climatical fluctuations mediated biodiversity mechanisms, which are tightly correlated with ecosystem's service capacity and resistance capacity under a rapid climate change scenario in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Plant diversity and soil microbial diversity are important driving factors in sustaining ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) in terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about the relative importance of plant diversity, soil microbial diversity, and soil microbial network complexity to EMF in tropical rainforests. Methods: This study took the tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China as the research object, and quantified various ecosystem functions such as soil organic carbon stock, soil nutrient cycling, biomass production, and water regulation in the tropical rainforest to explore the relationship and effect of plant diversity, soil microbial diversity, soil microbial network complexity and EMF. Results: Our results exhibited that EMF decreased with increasing liana species richness, soil fungal diversity, and soil fungal network complexity, which followed a trend of initially increasing and then decreasing with soil bacterial diversity while increasing with soil bacterial network complexity. Soil microbial diversity and plant diversity primarily affected soil nutrient cycling. Additionally, liana species richness had a significant negative effect on soil organic carbon stocks. The random forest model suggested that liana species richness, soil bacterial network complexity, and soil fungal network complexity indicated more relative importance in sustaining EMF. The structural equation model revealed that soil bacterial network complexity and tree species richness displayed the significantly positive effects on EMF, while liana species richness significantly affected EMF via negative pathway. We also observed that soil microbial diversity indirectly affected EMF through soil microbial network complexity. Soil bulk density had a significant and negative effect on liana species richness, thus indirectly influencing EMF. Simultaneously, we further found that liana species richness was the main indicator of sustaining EMF in a tropical rainforest, while soil bacterial diversity was the primary driving factor. Discussion: Our findings provide new insight into the relationship between biodiversity and EMF in a tropical rainforest ecosystem and the relative contribution of plant and soil microibal diversity to ecosystem function with increasing global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]