Plant Diversity Maintains Soil Detritivore Activity Under Drought.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity loss and increasing drought events due to climate change threaten ecosystem stability by disrupting soil organic matter decomposition. Soil detritivores play a crucial role in mitigating this impact through the fragmentation of organic residues, enhancement of microbial activity, and modification of soil structure, ultimately regulating soil organic carbon cycling and nutrient availability. However, the interactive effects of plant diversity and extreme drought on their activity remain unknown. To investigate this, we measured soil detritivore feeding activity and its differences between soil layers in a long-term grassland experiment (2018-2023) that manipulated both plant diversity and projected precipitation patterns. The results presented here focus on two distinct periods

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12319659 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature