Soil invertebrate diversity loss and functional changes in temperate forest soils replaced by exotic pine plantations

Camila Cifuentes-Croquevielle,Juan J Armesto,Daniel E Stanton

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-64453-y

Abstract

The global expansion of tree plantations is often claimed to have positive effects for mitigating global warming, preventing soil erosion, and reducing biodiversity loss. However, questions remain unanswered about the impacts of plantations on belowground diversity and soil properties. Here, we examine how forestry plantations of exotic trees affect critical soil functions and the composition of invertebrate assemblages, by comparing invertebrate diversity and soil physico-chemical properties between non-native Pinus radiata plantations, and nearby native forests in a region of extensive plantation activity in south-central Chile. We quantified differences in diversity, abundance, and community composition of soil invertebrates, as well as fundamental soil properties such as soil water content, water infiltration, nutrient status, and pH. We show that in this landscape mosaic of native forest and plantations, both soil invertebrate communities and physical soil properties differed significantly between systems, despite similar soil origins and topographies. We found a significant loss of soil carbon and a major reduction in taxonomic and functional diversity of soil invertebrates in pine plantation sites. Soil biotic and abiotic characteristics of plantations differed significantly from native forests in plantation-dominated south-central Chile, with profound consequences for ecosystem processes and resilience to future climate change.

Highlights

The global expansion of tree plantations is often claimed to have positive effects for mitigating global warming, preventing soil erosion, and reducing biodiversity loss
We found a total of 27 orders of invertebrates in the 216 soil samples from all native forest and pine plantations sites
All the 27 orders of soil invertebrates were present in soils from native forest, while only 22 orders were found in pine plantations

Summary

Introduction

The global expansion of tree plantations is often claimed to have positive effects for mitigating global warming, preventing soil erosion, and reducing biodiversity loss. We examine how forestry plantations of exotic trees affect critical soil functions and the composition of invertebrate assemblages, by comparing invertebrate diversity and soil physico-chemical properties between non-native Pinus radiata plantations, and nearby native forests in a region of extensive plantation activity in south-central Chile. The loss of soil functions belowground is hard to perceive visually, but field studies have suggested strong deteriorating effects of land cover change on carbon storage, nutrient retention, and water provision[9,21,22]. All of these are significant ecosystem benefits contributing to human wellbeing[23]

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Discussion

Conclusion