Contrasting responses of above- and belowground diversity to multiple components of land-use intensity

Markus Fischer,Katharina John,Eric Allan,Esther Pašalić ,François Buscot ,Melanie N Chisté ,Christiane N Weiner ,Ralph Bolliger,Kirsten Jung,Michael Bonkowski,Tesfaye Wubet,Michael Werner,Verena Busch,Jörg Overmann,Martin M Goßner ,Kezia Goldmann,Gaëtane Le Provost,Jan Thiele,Markus Lange,Daniel Prati,Pascal Scherreiks,Richard D Bardgett,Swen C Renner ,Norbert Hoelzel,Carmen Börschig,Juliane Vogt,Marco Tschapka,Caterina Penone,Hartmut Arndt,Steffen Boch,Margot Neyret,Valentin H Klaus,Johannes Sikorski,Till Kleinebecker,Peter Manning,Ingolf Steffan‐Dewenter ,Jochen Krauß ,David J Perović,Dennis Baulechner,Wolfgang W Weisser ,Ilja Sonnemann,Manfred Ayasse,Anna Maria Fiore‐Donno ,Andrey S Zaitsev,Susanne Wurst,Deborah Schäfer,Volkmar Wolters,Klaus Birkhofer,Rachel Gaulton,Fons Van Der Plas,Marion Schrumpf,Nico Blüthgen,Ingo Schöning,Katja Wehner,Catrin Westphal,Heike Feldhaar,Konstans Wells,Manfred Türke,Carlo Marzini

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23931-1

Abstract

Land-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. However, understanding how different components of land use drive biodiversity loss requires the investigation of multiple trophic levels across spatial scales. Using data from 150 agricultural grasslands in central Europe, we assess the influence of multiple components of local- and landscape-level land use on more than 4,000 above- and belowground taxa, spanning 20 trophic groups. Plot-level land-use intensity is strongly and negatively associated with aboveground trophic groups, but positively or not associated with belowground trophic groups. Meanwhile, both above- and belowground trophic groups respond to landscape-level land use, but to different drivers: aboveground diversity of grasslands is promoted by diverse surrounding land-cover, while belowground diversity is positively related to a high permanent forest cover in the surrounding landscape. These results highlight a role of landscape-level land use in shaping belowground communities, and suggest that revised agroecosystem management strategies are needed to conserve whole-ecosystem biodiversity.

Highlights

Land-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss
Explained variance was higher for lower trophic levels than for higher trophic levels (Fig. 2)
Plot-level land-use intensity was an important driver of the species richness of above- and belowground trophic groups, accounting for 24.1% ± 4.0 s.e.m of the explained variance for aboveground trophic groups, and 15.3% ± 3.3 s.e.m of explained variance for belowground trophic groups (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

Land-use intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. understanding how different components of land use drive biodiversity loss requires the investigation of multiple trophic levels across spatial scales. Landscape-level land-use history was an important driver of belowground biodiversity, with greater species richness of fungal pathogens (P < 0.05) and fungal decomposers (P < 0.05) in plots surrounded by permanent forest cover.

Results

Conclusion