Different patterns, but no temporal decline in temperate forest soil meso‐ and macrofauna over the last decade

作者：Melanie M. Pollierer, André Junggebauer, Sarah L. Bluhm, Melissa Jüds, Bernhard Klarner, Stefan Scheu · 发表于：Ecology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1002/ecy.70246 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Collembola Taxonomy and Ecology Studies、Isotope Analysis in Ecology

Global biodiversity loss is threatening ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Arthropods above the ground have substantially decreased in abundance and diversity during the last 15-20 years. However, changes in belowground biodiversity, particularly in forests, received little attention. Here, we analyzed a comprehensive dataset of soil-living meso- and macrofauna in forests differing in land-use intensity within the framework of the open research platform "Biodiversity Exploratories" in Germany. The abundance of soil animal species was analyzed at 3-year intervals, covering 12 years from 2008 to 2020. Neither species richness nor γ-diversity of both soil meso- and macrofauna declined, suggesting contrasting dynamics of biodiversity above and below the ground. The density and diversity of soil mesofauna varied significantly between years within regions. These variations were closely related to the precipitation levels in the previous winter and during the sampling period. However, there was no consistent long-term downward trend, as declines in some years were offset by full recoveries. Temporal trends of soil macrofauna taxa densities were inconsistent and depended on regions and forest management intensity. The stability of many soil taxa was related to effective diversity and asynchrony of species fluctuations, supporting the portfolio effect. However, variance ratios not different from null communities and a negative impact of temporal species turnover on stability ...