Biogeographic patterns in below-ground diversity in New York City's Central Park are similar to those observed globally.

ABSTRACT: Soil biota play key roles in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, however, compared to our knowledge of above-ground plant and animal diversity, the biodiversity found in soils remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we present an assessment of soil biodiversity and biogeographic patterns across Central Park in New York City that spanned all three domains of life, demonstrating that even an urban, managed system harbours large amounts of undescribed soil biodiversity. Despite high variability across the Park, below-ground diversity patterns were predictable based on soil characteristics, with prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities exhibiting overlapping biogeographic patterns. Further, Central Park soils harboured nearly as many distinct soil microbial phylotypes and types of soil com

SUBMITTER: Ramirez KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4213626 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature