Belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

Growing evidence points to belowground biota as a significant contributor to aboveground diversity and functioning as well as impacting eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change; this review explores such evidence and proposes further research directions. Overground impact of underground bi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) Vol. 515; no. 7528; pp. 505 - 511
Main Authors: Bardgett, Richard D., van der Putten, Wim H.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27.11.2014
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/158/670
Animals
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Biodiversity
Biogeochemistry
Biological diversity
climate-change
Ecological function
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
ectomycorrhizal fungi
Environmental changes
Food Chain
food webs
global patterns
Herbivores
Humanities and Social Sciences
Introduced Species
invasive plant
litter decomposition
Microorganisms
multidisciplinary
neighboring plants
Population Dynamics
review-article
Science
Soil fertility
soil microbial communities
Soil Microbiology
spatial-patterns
Terrestrial ecosystems
Time Factors
United Kingdom
Netherlands
ISSN:0028-0836, 1476-4687, 1476-4687
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Growing evidence points to belowground biota as a significant contributor to aboveground diversity and functioning as well as impacting eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change; this review explores such evidence and proposes further research directions. Overground impact of underground biodiversity Belowground biodiversity is largely out of sight and mind, but there is mounting evidence to show that the vast diversity of subterranean microorganisms and animals that live belowground contribute significantly to shaping the overall biodiversity and and terrestrial ecosystem function. In this review, Richard Bardgett and Wim van der Putten consider recent work on the ecological and evolutionary role of belowground biodiversity and outline areas or research that would improve our understanding of the influence of soil biodiversity on the ecological and evolutionary responses of terrestrial ecosystems to environmental change. Evidence is mounting that the immense diversity of microorganisms and animals that live belowground contributes significantly to shaping aboveground biodiversity and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Our understanding of how this belowground biodiversity is distributed, and how it regulates the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, is rapidly growing. Evidence also points to soil biodiversity as having a key role in determining the ecological and evolutionary responses of terrestrial ecosystems to current and future environmental change. Here we review recent progress and propose avenues for further research in this field.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ObjectType-Review-3
content type line 23
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/nature13855