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

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…

• NI
  Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie
• AN
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche

  Awards: UMR1136, ANR-11-LABX-0002-01, ANR-11-LABX-0002
• KN
  Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen
• NO
  Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

  Awards: 260-55290, 863.15.021