Tree diversity and species identity effects on soil fungi, protists and animals are context dependent.

ABSTRACT: Plant species richness and the presence of certain influential species (sampling effect) drive the stability and functionality of ecosystems as well as primary production and biomass of consumers. However, little is known about these floristic effects on richness and community composition of soil biota in forest habitats owing to methodological constraints. We developed a DNA metabarcoding approach to identify the major eukaryote groups directly from soil with roughly species-level resolution. Using this method, we examined the effects of tree diversity and individual tree species on soil microbial biomass and taxonomic richness of soil biota in two experimental study systems in Finland and Estonia and accounted for edaphic variables and spatial autocorrelation. Our analyses revealed that

SUBMITTER: Tedersoo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4737927 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature