TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes
AU - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
AU - Reich, Peter B.
AU - Bardgett, Richard D.
AU - Eldridge, David J.
AU - Lambers, Hans
AU - Wardle, David A.
AU - Reed, Sasha C.
AU - Plaza, César
AU - Png, G. Kenny
AU - Neuhauser, Sigrid
AU - Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw
AU - Hart, Stephen C.
AU - Hu, Hang Wei
AU - He, Ji Zheng
AU - Bastida, Felipe
AU - Abades, Sebastián
AU - Alfaro, Fernando D.
AU - Cutler, Nick A.
AU - Gallardo, Antonio
AU - García-Velázquez, Laura
AU - Hayes, Patrick E.
AU - Hseu, Zeng Yei
AU - Pérez, Cecilia A.
AU - Santos, Fernanda
AU - Siebe, Christina
AU - Trivedi, Pankaj
AU - Sullivan, Benjamin W.
AU - Weber-Grullon, Luis
AU - Williams, Mark A.
AU - Fierer, Noah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - The importance of soil age as an ecosystem driver across biomes remains largely unresolved. By combining a cross-biome global field survey, including data for 32 soil, plant, and microbial properties in 16 soil chronosequences, with a global meta-analysis, we show that soil age is a significant ecosystem driver, but only accounts for a relatively small proportion of the cross-biome variation in multiple ecosystem properties. Parent material, climate, vegetation and topography predict, collectively, 24 times more variation in ecosystem properties than soil age alone. Soil age is an important local-scale ecosystem driver; however, environmental context, rather than soil age, determines the rates and trajectories of ecosystem development in structure and function across biomes. Our work provides insights into the natural history of terrestrial ecosystems. We propose that, regardless of soil age, changes in the environmental context, such as those associated with global climatic and land-use changes, will have important long-term impacts on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems across biomes.
AB - The importance of soil age as an ecosystem driver across biomes remains largely unresolved. By combining a cross-biome global field survey, including data for 32 soil, plant, and microbial properties in 16 soil chronosequences, with a global meta-analysis, we show that soil age is a significant ecosystem driver, but only accounts for a relatively small proportion of the cross-biome variation in multiple ecosystem properties. Parent material, climate, vegetation and topography predict, collectively, 24 times more variation in ecosystem properties than soil age alone. Soil age is an important local-scale ecosystem driver; however, environmental context, rather than soil age, determines the rates and trajectories of ecosystem development in structure and function across biomes. Our work provides insights into the natural history of terrestrial ecosystems. We propose that, regardless of soil age, changes in the environmental context, such as those associated with global climatic and land-use changes, will have important long-term impacts on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems across biomes.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 32948775
AN - SCOPUS:85091259703
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 4721
ER -