Energy flux across multitrophic levels drives ecosystem multifunctionality: Evidence from nematode food webs

Energy flux in food webs, i.e., energy consumption by different trophic groups and describing their energetic structure, has been proposed as a powerful tool to understand the relationships between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions (ecosystem multifunctionality). Here we examined how different fertilization regimes affected the energy flux across multitrophic levels of soil nematodes in the paddy rice and upland maize fields. We considered 13 ecosystem functions of four ecological processes related to plant productivity, nutrient cycling processes and drivers, and functional stability, which are central to energy and nutrient flow across trophic levels. To confirm whether multitrophic flux would underpin the relationships between biodiversity and multifunctionality, we compared energy flux with other approaches including taxonomic diversity, functional diversity and community composition. Results showed that organic fertilizer supported 33-340% greater multitrophic energy flux of soil nematode community and enhanced 41-264% of ecosystem multifunctionality in both fields compared with mineral fertilizer treatments. Organic fertilization enhanced ecosystem multi functionality by favoring energy flux in multitrophic levels of soil nematodes, while fertilization-mediated changes in other facets of biodiversity were less related to multifunctionality. Our study provides empirical evidence that energy flux within food webs can be used to understand the impacts of environmental change drivers on ecosystem multifunctionality.

Automated summary

This study examined the effects of different fertilization regimes on the energy flux of soil nematodes at multiple trophic levels in paddy rice and upland maize fields. The results showed that organic fertilizer significantly increased the energy flux and ecosystem multifunctionality compared to mineral fertilizer. The study provides empirical evidence that energy flux in food webs can help understand the impact of environmental change on ecosystem multifunctionality.