Blind spots in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function research

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and governance. Here we identify and characterize the existing gaps in soil biodiversity and ecosystem function data across soil macroecological studies and >11,000 sampling sites. These include significant spatial, environmental, taxonomic, and functional gaps, and an almost complete absence of temporally explicit data. We also identify the limitations of soil macroecological studies to explore general patterns in soil biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, with only 0.6% of all sampling sites having a non-systematic coverage of both biodiversity and function datasets. Based on this information, we provide clear priorities to support and expand soil macroecological research.

GUERRA Carlos;  HEINTZ-BUSCHART Anna;  SIKORSKI Johannes;  CHATZINOTAS Antonis;  GUERRERO-RAMIREZ Nathaly;  CESARZ Simone;  BAUMELLE Lea;  RILLIG Matthias C.;  MAESTRE Fernando T.;  DELGADO-BAQUERIZO Manuel;  BUSCOT Francois;  OVERMANN Jorg;  PATOINE Guillaume;  PHILLIPS Helen R. P.;  WINTER Marten;  WUBET Tesfaye;  KUSEL Kirsten;  BARDGETT Richard;  CAMERON Erin;  COWAN Don;  GREBENC Tine;  MARIN Cesar;  ORGIAZZI Alberto;  SINGH Brajesh;  WALL Diana;  EISENHAUER Nico; 

2022-04-12

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

JRC116960

2041-1723 (online),   

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17688-2,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC116960,   

10.1038/s41467-020-17688-2 (online),