Journal
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
Volume 43, Issue 2, Pages 462-465Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.10.018
Keywords
Above-and belowground interactions; Biodiversity loss; Ecosystem functioning; Litter decomposition; Soil microarthropods; Soil microorganisms; Understory vegetation
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Funding
- DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
- DFG (German Science Foundation) [Ei 862/1-1]
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The current decline in biodiversity is particularly pronounced in the herbaceous layer of forest ecosystems. We explored the relationship between a naturally occurring plant diversity gradient in the understory vegetation of a deciduous forest and several above-and belowground ecosystem processes. We show that particularly soil microbial parameters and microarthropod densities are positively correlated with plant species richness. These results confirm recent findings in grassland ecosystems and highlight the intimate interconnectance between the diversity and functioning of above-and belowground compartments. We conclude that irrespective of a potential causal relationship between plant species richness and belowground processes, it is essential to consider the performance of soil biota in order to understand the relationship between herbaceous layer composition and ecosystem function. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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