Most cited article - PubMed ID 36750574
Globally invariant metabolism but density-diversity mismatch in springtails
Mycorrhizal fungi are ecosystem engineers that sustain plant life and help regulate Earth's biogeochemical cycles1-3. However, in contrast to plants and animals, the global distribution of mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity is largely unknown, which limits our ability to monitor and protect key underground ecosystems4,5. Here we trained machine-learning algorithms on a global dataset of 25,000 geolocated soil samples comprising >2.8 billion fungal DNA sequences. We predicted arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungal richness and rarity across terrestrial ecosystems. On the basis of these predictions, we generated high-resolution, global-scale maps and identified key reservoirs of highly diverse and endemic mycorrhizal communities. Intersecting protected areas with mycorrhizal hotspots indicated that less than 10% of predicted mycorrhizal richness hotspots currently exist in protected areas. Our results describe a largely hidden component of Earth's underground ecosystems and can help identify conservation priorities, set monitoring benchmarks and create specific restoration plans and land-management strategies.
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Although Isotomiellaminor (Schäffer, 1896) (Collembola) is widely distributed in temperate regions, it is one of the less-studied species genetically. The genetic variability and its structure in the common springtail I.minor were investigated on a regional geographic scale using mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear (28S rDNA) markers. A total of nine populations from urban habitats of the Košice city agglomeration and four populations from natural sites of the karst landscape were used for the present study carried out in the Western Carpathians, Slovakia. Up to nine cryptic lineages (MOTUs - molecular operational taxonomic units) were independently recognised by two molecular delimitation methods. In addition, high genetic distances between lineages were observed (p-dist: 10.87-22.75% and K2p: 11.98-27.22%), comparable to the genetic distances between species. This study showed that urban and natural habitats harbour significantly different genetic lineages. Limited dispersal of MOTUs (lineages) between natural and urban populations was also supported by analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA). While the I.minor populations at urban sites were mixtures of different lineages, the populations at natural sites were monophyletic and their haplotypes/genetic lineages were clearly grouped by individual sites. Possible ecological filtering between urban and natural environments within MOTUs is discussed with respect to the evolution of parthenogenetic species I.minor in this habitat complex.
- Keywords
- Environmental conditions, evolution relationships, genetic variability, soil fauna, springtail populations, ubiquitous species,
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Fauna is highly abundant and diverse in soils worldwide, but surprisingly little is known about how it affects soil organic matter stabilization. Here, we review how the ecological strategies of a multitude of soil faunal taxa can affect the formation and persistence of labile (particulate organic matter, POM) and stabilized soil organic matter (mineral-associated organic matter, MAOM). We propose three major mechanisms - transformation, translocation, and grazing on microorganisms - by which soil fauna alters factors deemed essential in the formation of POM and MAOM, including the quantity and decomposability of organic matter, soil mineralogy, and the abundance, location, and composition of the microbial community. Determining the relevance of these mechanisms to POM and MAOM formation in cross-disciplinary studies that cover individual taxa and more complex faunal communities, and employ physical fractionation, isotopic, and microbiological approaches is essential to advance concepts, models, and policies focused on soil organic matter and effectively manage soils as carbon sinks, nutrient stores, and providers of food.
- MeSH
- Ecosystem MeSH
- Microbiota MeSH
- Minerals chemistry MeSH
- Organic Chemicals MeSH
- Soil * chemistry MeSH
- Soil Microbiology * MeSH
- Carbon chemistry metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Review MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Minerals MeSH
- Organic Chemicals MeSH
- Soil * MeSH
- Carbon MeSH
Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.
