Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands

Julia Siebert; Marie Sünnemann; Yann Hautier; Anita C. Risch; Jonathan D. Bakker; Lori Biederman; Dana M. Blumenthal; Elizabeth T. Borer; Miguel N. Bugalho; Arthur A.D. Broadbent; Maria C. Caldeira; Elsa Cleland; Kendi F. Davies; Anu Eskelinen; Nicole Hagenah; Johannes M.H. Knops; Andrew S. MacDougall; Rebecca L. McCulley; Joslin L. Moore; Sally A. Power; Jodi N. Price; Eric W. Seabloom; Rachel Standish; Carly J. Stevens; Stephan Zimmermann; Nico Eisenhauer

doi:10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2

Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands

Julia Siebert
, Marie Sünnemann
, Yann Hautier
, Anita C. Risch
, Jonathan D. Bakker
, Lori Biederman
, Dana M. Blumenthal
, Elizabeth T. Borer
, Miguel N. Bugalho
, Arthur A.D. Broadbent
, Maria C. Caldeira
, Elsa Cleland
, Kendi F. Davies
, Anu Eskelinen
, Nicole Hagenah
, Johannes M.H. Knops
, Andrew S. MacDougall
, Rebecca L. McCulley
, Joslin L. Moore
, Sally A. Power

Jodi N. Price, Eric W. Seabloom, Rachel Standish, Carly J. Stevens, Stephan Zimmermann, Nico Eisenhauer

Plant and Soil Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Covering approximately 40% of land surfaces, grasslands provide critical ecosystem services that rely on soil organisms. However, the global determinants of soil biodiversity and functioning remain underexplored. In this study, we investigate the drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity in grasslands across a wide range of climatic conditions on five continents. We apply standardized treatments of nutrient addition and herbivore reduction, allowing us to disentangle the regional and local drivers of soil organism activity. We use structural equation modeling to assess the direct and indirect effects of local and regional drivers on soil biological activities. Microbial and detritivore activities are positively correlated across global grasslands. These correlations are shaped more by global climatic factors than by local treatments, with annual precipitation and soil water content explaining the majority of the variation. Nutrient addition tends to reduce microbial activity by enhancing plant growth, while herbivore reduction typically increases microbial and detritivore activity through increased soil moisture. Our findings emphasize soil moisture as a key driver of soil biological activity, highlighting the potential impacts of climate change, altered grazing pressure, and eutrophication on nutrient cycling and decomposition within grassland ecosystems.

Original language	English
Article number	1220
Journal	Communications Biology
Volume	6
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2
State	Published - Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Funding

This work was generated using data from the Nutrient Network (http://www.nutnet.org) experiment, funded at the site-scale by individual researchers. Coordination of soil sampling was funded by a competitive WSL internal grant to A.C. Risch and S. Zimmermann. Coordination and data management for NutNet have been supported by funding to E. Borer and E. Seabloom from the National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF-DEB-1042132) and Long-Term Ecological Research (NSF-DEB-1234162 to Cedar Creek LTER) programs, and the Institute on the Environment (DG-0001-13). We also thank the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute for hosting project data and the Institute on the Environment for hosting Network meetings. J. Siebert, M. Sünnemann, and N. Eisenhauer acknowledge funding from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, funded by the DFG (FZT 118). M. N. Bugalho thanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for funding through contract DL 57/2016/CP1382/CT0030 and projects UID/BIA/50027/2013 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821. M. N. Bugalho also thank Rui Alves for granting access to the study site (comp.pt) We acknowledge the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for funding the research unit CEF (UIDB/00239/2020). We thank Felix Gottschall for support with Figs. 2 and 3 and especially the design of the icons. This work was generated using data from the Nutrient Network ( http://www.nutnet.org ) experiment, funded at the site-scale by individual researchers. Coordination of soil sampling was funded by a competitive WSL internal grant to A.C. Risch and S. Zimmermann. Coordination and data management for NutNet have been supported by funding to E. Borer and E. Seabloom from the National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF-DEB-1042132) and Long-Term Ecological Research (NSF-DEB-1234162 to Cedar Creek LTER) programs, and the Institute on the Environment (DG-0001-13). We also thank the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute for hosting project data and the Institute on the Environment for hosting Network meetings. J. Siebert, M. Sünnemann, and N. Eisenhauer acknowledge funding from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, funded by the DFG (FZT 118). M. N. Bugalho thanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for funding through contract DL 57/2016/CP1382/CT0030 and projects UID/BIA/50027/2013 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821. M. N. Bugalho also thank Rui Alves for granting access to the study site (comp.pt) We acknowledge the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for funding the research unit CEF (UIDB/00239/2020). We thank Felix Gottschall for support with Figs. and and especially the design of the icons.

Funders	Funder number
Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program	1234162, NSF-DEB-1042132
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P.	DL 57/2016/CP1382/CT0030, UID/BIA/50027/2013, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821, UIDB/00239/2020, Incentivo/SAU/LA0001/2013
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment	DG-0001-13
Long-Term Ecological Research	NSF-DEB-1234162
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	FZT 118

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action
SDG 15 Life on Land

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Medicine (miscellaneous)
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Access to Document

10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2

Cite this

Siebert, J., Sünnemann, M., Hautier, Y., Risch, A. C., Bakker, J. D., Biederman, L., Blumenthal, D. M., Borer, E. T., Bugalho, M. N., Broadbent, A. A. D., Caldeira, M. C., Cleland, E., Davies, K. F., Eskelinen, A., Hagenah, N., Knops, J. M. H., MacDougall, A. S., McCulley, R. L., Moore, J. L., ... Eisenhauer, N. (2023). Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands. Communications Biology, 6(1), Article 1220. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2

@article{38a3dfb8e8834ff59f7c7d10def7c9e6,

title = "Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands",

abstract = "Covering approximately 40\% of land surfaces, grasslands provide critical ecosystem services that rely on soil organisms. However, the global determinants of soil biodiversity and functioning remain underexplored. In this study, we investigate the drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity in grasslands across a wide range of climatic conditions on five continents. We apply standardized treatments of nutrient addition and herbivore reduction, allowing us to disentangle the regional and local drivers of soil organism activity. We use structural equation modeling to assess the direct and indirect effects of local and regional drivers on soil biological activities. Microbial and detritivore activities are positively correlated across global grasslands. These correlations are shaped more by global climatic factors than by local treatments, with annual precipitation and soil water content explaining the majority of the variation. Nutrient addition tends to reduce microbial activity by enhancing plant growth, while herbivore reduction typically increases microbial and detritivore activity through increased soil moisture. Our findings emphasize soil moisture as a key driver of soil biological activity, highlighting the potential impacts of climate change, altered grazing pressure, and eutrophication on nutrient cycling and decomposition within grassland ecosystems.",

author = "Julia Siebert and Marie S{\"u}nnemann and Yann Hautier and Risch, \{Anita C.\} and Bakker, \{Jonathan D.\} and Lori Biederman and Blumenthal, \{Dana M.\} and Borer, \{Elizabeth T.\} and Bugalho, \{Miguel N.\} and Broadbent, \{Arthur A.D.\} and Caldeira, \{Maria C.\} and Elsa Cleland and Davies, \{Kendi F.\} and Anu Eskelinen and Nicole Hagenah and Knops, \{Johannes M.H.\} and MacDougall, \{Andrew S.\} and McCulley, \{Rebecca L.\} and Moore, \{Joslin L.\} and Power, \{Sally A.\} and Price, \{Jodi N.\} and Seabloom, \{Eric W.\} and Rachel Standish and Stevens, \{Carly J.\} and Stephan Zimmermann and Nico Eisenhauer",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s).",

year = "2023",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2",

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Siebert, J, Sünnemann, M, Hautier, Y, Risch, AC, Bakker, JD, Biederman, L, Blumenthal, DM, Borer, ET, Bugalho, MN, Broadbent, AAD, Caldeira, MC, Cleland, E, Davies, KF, Eskelinen, A, Hagenah, N, Knops, JMH, MacDougall, AS, McCulley, RL, Moore, JL, Power, SA, Price, JN, Seabloom, EW, Standish, R, Stevens, CJ, Zimmermann, S & Eisenhauer, N 2023, 'Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands', Communications Biology, vol. 6, no. 1, 1220. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2

TY - JOUR

T1 - Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands

AU - Siebert, Julia

AU - Sünnemann, Marie

AU - Hautier, Yann

AU - Risch, Anita C.

AU - Bakker, Jonathan D.

AU - Biederman, Lori

AU - Blumenthal, Dana M.

AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.

AU - Bugalho, Miguel N.

AU - Broadbent, Arthur A.D.

AU - Caldeira, Maria C.

AU - Cleland, Elsa

AU - Davies, Kendi F.

AU - Eskelinen, Anu

AU - Hagenah, Nicole

AU - Knops, Johannes M.H.

AU - MacDougall, Andrew S.

AU - McCulley, Rebecca L.

AU - Moore, Joslin L.

AU - Power, Sally A.

AU - Price, Jodi N.

AU - Seabloom, Eric W.

AU - Standish, Rachel

AU - Stevens, Carly J.

AU - Zimmermann, Stephan

AU - Eisenhauer, Nico

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - Covering approximately 40% of land surfaces, grasslands provide critical ecosystem services that rely on soil organisms. However, the global determinants of soil biodiversity and functioning remain underexplored. In this study, we investigate the drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity in grasslands across a wide range of climatic conditions on five continents. We apply standardized treatments of nutrient addition and herbivore reduction, allowing us to disentangle the regional and local drivers of soil organism activity. We use structural equation modeling to assess the direct and indirect effects of local and regional drivers on soil biological activities. Microbial and detritivore activities are positively correlated across global grasslands. These correlations are shaped more by global climatic factors than by local treatments, with annual precipitation and soil water content explaining the majority of the variation. Nutrient addition tends to reduce microbial activity by enhancing plant growth, while herbivore reduction typically increases microbial and detritivore activity through increased soil moisture. Our findings emphasize soil moisture as a key driver of soil biological activity, highlighting the potential impacts of climate change, altered grazing pressure, and eutrophication on nutrient cycling and decomposition within grassland ecosystems.

AB - Covering approximately 40% of land surfaces, grasslands provide critical ecosystem services that rely on soil organisms. However, the global determinants of soil biodiversity and functioning remain underexplored. In this study, we investigate the drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity in grasslands across a wide range of climatic conditions on five continents. We apply standardized treatments of nutrient addition and herbivore reduction, allowing us to disentangle the regional and local drivers of soil organism activity. We use structural equation modeling to assess the direct and indirect effects of local and regional drivers on soil biological activities. Microbial and detritivore activities are positively correlated across global grasslands. These correlations are shaped more by global climatic factors than by local treatments, with annual precipitation and soil water content explaining the majority of the variation. Nutrient addition tends to reduce microbial activity by enhancing plant growth, while herbivore reduction typically increases microbial and detritivore activity through increased soil moisture. Our findings emphasize soil moisture as a key driver of soil biological activity, highlighting the potential impacts of climate change, altered grazing pressure, and eutrophication on nutrient cycling and decomposition within grassland ecosystems.

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UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85178175936#tab=citedBy

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DO - 10.1038/s42003-023-05607-2

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Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this