Soil networks become more connected and take up more carbon as nature restoration progresses.

Elly Morriën (1, 2) , S Emilia Hannula (1) , L Basten Snoek (1, 3) , Nico R Helmsing (1) , Hans Zweers (1) , Mattias de Hollander (1) , Raquel Luján Soto (1) , Marie-Lara Bouffaud (4) , Marc Buée (5) , Wim Dimmers (3) , Henk Duyts (1) , Stefan Geisen (1, 6) , Mariangela Girlanda (7) , Rob I Griffiths (8) , Helene-Bracht Jørgensen (9) , John Jensen (10) , Pierre Plassart (4) , Dirk Redecker (4) , Rűdiger M Schmelz (11, 12) , Olaf Schmidt (13) , Bruce C Thomson (8) , Emilie Tisserant (5) , Stéphane Uroz (5) , Anne Winding (10) , Mark J Bailey (8) , Michael Bonkowski (6) , Jack H Faber (3) , Francis Martin (5) , Philippe P. Lemanceau (4) , Wietse de Boer (1, 3) , Johannes A van Veen (1, 14) , Wim H van Der Putten (1)

1 NIOO-KNAW - Netherlands Institute for Ecology
2 UvA - University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] = Universiteit van Amsterdam
3 WUR - Wageningen University and Research [Wageningen]
4 Agroécologie [Dijon]
5 IAM - Interactions Arbres-Microorganismes
6 University of Cologne
7 UNITO - Università degli studi di Torino = University of Turin
8 NERC - Natural Environment Research Council
9 Skane University Hospital [Lund]
10 Aarhus University [Aarhus]
11 ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH
12 UDC - University of A Coruña
13 UCD - University College Dublin [Dublin]
14 Universiteit Leiden = Leiden University

Soil organisms have an important role in aboveground community dynamics and ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems. However, most studies have considered soil biota as a black box or focussed on specific groups, whereas little is known about entire soil networks. Here we show that during the course of nature restoration on abandoned arable land a compositional shift in soil biota, preceded by tightening of the belowground networks, corresponds with enhanced efficiency of carbon uptake. In mid- and long-term abandoned field soil, carbon uptake by fungi increases without an increase in fungal biomass or shift in bacterial-to-fungal ratio. The implication of our findings is that during nature restoration the efficiency of nutrient cycling and carbon uptake can increase by a shift in fungal composition and/or fungal activity. Therefore, we propose that relationships between soil food web structure and carbon cycling in soils need to be reconsidered.

Domaines: Milieux et Changements globaux; Sciences de la Terre

Elly Morriën, S Emilia Hannula, L Basten Snoek, Nico R Helmsing, Hans Zweers, et al.. Soil networks become more connected and take up more carbon as nature restoration progresses.. Nature Communications, 2017, 8, pp.1-10. ⟨10.1038/ncomms14349⟩. ⟨hal-01581635⟩