The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes

Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo; Peter B. Reich; Richard D. Bardgett; David J. Eldridge; Hans Lambers; David A. Wardle; Sasha C. Reed; César Plaza; G. Kenny Png; Sigrid Neuhauser; Asmeret Asefaw Berhe; Stephen C. Hart; Hang-Wei Hu; Ji-Zheng He; Felipe Bastida; Sebastián Abades; Fernando D. Alfaro; Nick A. Cutler; Antonio Gallardo; Laura García-Velázquez; Patrick E. Hayes; Zeng-Yei Hseu; Cecilia A. Pérez; Fernanda Santos; Christina Siebe; Pankaj Trivedi; Benjamin W. Sullivan; Luis Weber-Grullon; Mark A. Williams; Noah Fierer

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3

The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes

Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
, Peter B. Reich
, Richard D. Bardgett
, David J. Eldridge
, Hans Lambers
, David A. Wardle
, Sasha C. Reed
, César Plaza
, G. Kenny Png
, Sigrid Neuhauser
, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
, Stephen C. Hart
, Hang-Wei Hu
, Ji-Zheng He
, Felipe Bastida
, Sebastián Abades
, Fernando D. Alfaro
, Nick A. Cutler
, Antonio Gallardo
, Laura García-Velázquez

Patrick E. Hayes, Zeng-Yei Hseu, Cecilia A. Pérez, Fernanda Santos, Christina Siebe, Pankaj Trivedi, Benjamin W. Sullivan, Luis Weber-Grullon, Mark A. Williams, Noah Fierer

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

86 Citations (Scopus)

31 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Article number	4721
Number of pages	14
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	11
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2020

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© 2020, The Author(s).

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Delgado-Baquerizo, M., Reich, P. B., Bardgett, R. D., Eldridge, D. J., Lambers, H., Wardle, D. A., Reed, S. C., Plaza, C., Png, G. K., Neuhauser, S., Berhe, A. A., Hart, S. C., Hu, H.-W., He, J.-Z., Bastida, F., Abades, S., Alfaro, F. D., Cutler, N. A., Gallardo, A., ... Fierer, N. (2020). The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes. Nature Communications, 11(1), Article 4721. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3

@article{a8b34472a42a41c4912ff8da7835f03b,

title = "The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes",

abstract = "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.",

author = "Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo and Reich, \{Peter B.\} and Bardgett, \{Richard D.\} and Eldridge, \{David J.\} and Hans Lambers and Wardle, \{David A.\} and Reed, \{Sasha C.\} and C{\'e}sar Plaza and Png, \{G. Kenny\} and Sigrid Neuhauser and Berhe, \{Asmeret Asefaw\} and Hart, \{Stephen C.\} and Hang-Wei Hu and Ji-Zheng He and Felipe Bastida and Sebasti{\'a}n Abades and Alfaro, \{Fernando D.\} and Cutler, \{Nick A.\} and Antonio Gallardo and Laura Garc{\'i}a-Vel{\'a}zquez and Hayes, \{Patrick E.\} and Zeng-Yei Hseu and P{\'e}rez, \{Cecilia A.\} and Fernanda Santos and Christina Siebe and Pankaj Trivedi and Sullivan, \{Benjamin W.\} and Luis Weber-Grullon and Williams, \{Mark A.\} and Noah Fierer",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s).",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

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issn = "2041-1723",

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Delgado-Baquerizo, M, Reich, PB, Bardgett, RD, Eldridge, DJ, Lambers, H, Wardle, DA, Reed, SC, Plaza, C, Png, GK, Neuhauser, S, Berhe, AA, Hart, SC, Hu, H-W, He, J-Z, Bastida, F, Abades, S, Alfaro, FD, Cutler, NA, Gallardo, A, García-Velázquez, L, Hayes, PE, Hseu, Z-Y, Pérez, CA, Santos, F, Siebe, C, Trivedi, P, Sullivan, BW, Weber-Grullon, L, Williams, MA & Fierer, N 2020, 'The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes', Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, 4721. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3

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

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.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:61749

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3

DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 11

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 4721

ER -

The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes

Abstract

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