1. Intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity across Europe
- Author
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Franciska T. de Vries, Peter C. de Ruiter, Stefanos P. Sgardelis, Josef Stary, Václav Pižl, Wim H. van der Putten, Katarina Hedlund, Soren Christensen, Lia Hemerik, Joseph Tzanopoulos, Elisa Thébault, Helene Bracht Jørgensen, Volkmar Wolters, Stefan Hotes, Karoline Uteseny, Tina D’ Hertefeldt, Jan Frouz, Richard D. Bardgett, Simon R. Mortimer, Klaus Birkhofer, Mira Liiri, W. H. Gera Hol, Mark Brady, Maria A. Tsiafouli, Lisa Bjørnlund, Heikki Setälä, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES Paris), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen] (WUR), Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Department of Biology, Northern Arizona University [Flagstaff], Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester [Manchester], Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), Department of Animal Ecology, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (JLU), Philipps University of Marburg, Institute of Soil Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences [Prague] (CAS), Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Reading (UOR), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent [Canterbury], University of Vienna [Vienna], Terrestrial Ecology (TE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen = Justus Liebig University (JLU), and Philipps Universität Marburg = Philipps University of Marburg
- Subjects
Soil biodiversity ,Soil biology ,temporal variability ,Biodiversity ,food-web structure ,Wiskundige en Statistische Methoden - Biometris ,taxonomic distinctness ,Ecosystem services ,functional groups ,7-year period ,soil food web ,Environmental Chemistry ,Soil food web ,Ecosystem ,land-use intensity ,Mathematical and Statistical Methods - Biometris ,Laboratorium voor Nematologie ,Soil Microbiology ,General Environmental Science ,2. Zero hunger ,ecosystem ,Global and Planetary Change ,Ecology ,Intensive farming ,terrestrial ecosystems ,Agriculture ,15. Life on land ,PE&RC ,arthropod communities ,taxonomic breadth ,body mass ,Europe ,Geography ,international ,phylogenetic diversity ,Species richness ,Laboratory of Nematology ,community structure ,[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology ,agricultural intensification ,ecosystem services ,management - Abstract
Soil biodiversity plays a key role in regulating the processes that underpin the delivery of ecosystem goods and services in terrestrial ecosystems. Agricultural intensification is known to change the diversity of individual groups of soil biota, but less is known about how intensification affects biodiversity of the soil food web as a whole, and whether or not these effects may be generalized across regions. We examined biodiversity in soil food webs from grasslands, extensive and intensive rotations in four agricultural regions across Europe: in Sweden, the UK, the Czech Republic and Greece. Effects of land use intensity were quantified based on structure and diversity among functional groups in the soil food web, as well as on community-weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. We also elucidate land use intensity effects on diversity of taxonomic units within taxonomic groups of soil fauna. We found that between regions soil food web diversity measures were variable, but that increasing land use intensity caused highly consistent responses. In particular, land use intensification reduced the complexity in the soil food webs, as well as the community-weighted mean body mass of soil fauna. In all regions across Europe, species richness of earthworms, Collembolans and oribatid mites was negatively affected by increased land use intensity. The taxonomic distinctness, which is a measure of taxonomic relatedness of species in a community that is independent of species richness, was also reduced by land use intensification. We conclude that intensive agriculture reduces soil biodiversity, making soil food webs less diverse and composed of smaller bodied organisms. Land use intensification results in fewer functional groups of soil biota with fewer and taxonomically more closely related species. We discuss how these changes in soil biodiversity due to land use intensification may threaten the functioning of soil in agricultural production systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2015
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