Above- and belowground biodiversity drives soil multifunctionality along a long-term grassland restoration chronosequence

Abstract

Restoring degraded land is an efficient strategy for improving biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, the effects of aboveground and belowground biodiversity on multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality) during ecological restoration are not well understood. Here, the relationships between plant and microbial communities and soil multifunctionality were assessed in a 30-year natural grassland restoration chronosequence on the Loess Plateau, China. Soil multifunctionality, in relation to the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles, was quantified. Soil bacterial and fungal communities were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing using the Illumina HiSeq platform. The results showed that soil multifunctionality was significantly increased with the increasing period of grassland restoration. Plant and bacterial diversity, rather than fungal diversity, were significantly and positively correlated with soil multifunctionality based on single functions, averaging, and multiple threshold approaches. Random forest and structural equation modeling analyses showed that soil multifunctionality was affected by both biotic and abiotic factors. Plant diversity and bacterial community composition had direct effects, whereas plant community composition had both direct and indirect effects on soil multifunctionality. Restoration period and soil pH indirectly affected soil multifunctionality by altering plant and bacterial communities. This work demonstrates the importance of aboveground and belowground biodiversity in driving soil multifunctionality during grassland restoration. The results provide empirical evidence that conserving biodiversity is crucial for maintaining ecosystem functions in restored areas.