Broad-Scale Diversity Patterns Differ Among Belowground Organismal Groups in Coastal Wetlands

IF 6 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY

Global Ecology and Biogeography Pub Date : 2025-09-12 DOI:10.1111/geb.70126

Yuan Xu, Xinpeng Fan, Janne Soininen, Caio Graco-Roza

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aim

Coastal wetlands belong to the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems, hosting a vast array of organisms including diverse belowground taxa. Despite their importance in driving critical ecosystem functions, the diversity and distribution of these cryptic belowground taxa remain poorly understood, particularly at broad spatial scales. Here, we used a large-scale sampling design to test the effects of (i) mean annual temperature (MAT), (ii) net primary productivity (represented by aboveground plant biomass and algal biomass), and (iii) sediment grain size (SED, representing local conditions) on the diversity of belowground organisms in coastal wetlands, with a focus on bacterial, protistan, and metazoan communities.

Location

Coastal wetlands of China.

Time Period

Current.

Major Taxa Studied

Bacteria, protists and metazoa.

Method

We sampled 101 coastal wetlands including bare mudflat (39 sites), salt marsh (36 sites) and mangrove (26 sites). High throughput sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes was conducted to examine the belowground diversity. We then applied generalised linear models to examine the relationship between environmental predictors and belowground diversities. Finally, we conducted piecewise structural equation modelling to explore both direct and indirect effects on diversities along the entire coastline.

Results

MAT had a significantly positive influence on surface belowground metazoan diversity, while bacterial diversity was more driven by SED. Both MAT and SED had a non-significant effect on protistan diversity. The aboveground plant biomass had a significantly positive influence on belowground diversities only in salt marshes but not in mangroves. Bacterial and protistan diversities decreased with increasing algal biomass in all habitats.

Main Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the importance of MAT in driving surface–belowground diversities decreased from multicellular organisms to unicellular groups. The vegetation effect was more important in less productive salt marshes. The increasing algal biomass probably led to resource competition among unicellular organisms, resulting in lower bacterial and protistan diversities.

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滨海湿地地下生物群落大尺度多样性格局差异

目的沿海湿地属于最具生产力和生物多样性的生态系统，拥有大量的生物，包括各种地下分类群。尽管它们在推动关键生态系统功能方面具有重要意义，但这些神秘的地下分类群的多样性和分布仍然知之甚少，特别是在广阔的空间尺度上。在这里，我们采用大规模抽样设计来测试(i)年平均温度（MAT），（ii）净初级生产力（以地上植物生物量和藻类生物量为代表），以及（iii）沉积物粒度（SED，代表当地条件）对沿海湿地地下生物多样性的影响，重点是细菌，原生生物和后生动物群落。中国沿海湿地地理位置。时间周期当前。主要分类群研究了细菌、原生生物和后生动物。方法对101个滨海湿地进行采样，包括裸露泥滩（39个）、盐沼（36个）和红树林（26个）。对16S和18S rRNA基因进行了高通量测序，以检测地下多样性。然后，我们应用广义线性模型来检验环境预测因子与地下多样性之间的关系。最后，我们通过分段结构方程模型来探讨对整个海岸线多样性的直接和间接影响。结果MAT对地表地下后生动物多样性有显著的正向影响，而SED对细菌多样性的影响更大。MAT和SED对原生生物多样性均无显著影响。地上植物生物量对地下植物多样性有显著的正影响，只有盐沼对地下植物多样性有显著的正影响，红树林对地下植物多样性没有显著的正影响。细菌和原生生物多样性随藻类生物量的增加而减少。本研究结果表明，从多细胞生物到单细胞生物，MAT在驱动地表-地下多样性方面的重要性有所下降。在生产力较低的盐沼中，植被效应更为重要。藻类生物量的增加可能导致单细胞生物之间的资源竞争，导致细菌和原生生物多样性降低。

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来源期刊

Global Ecology and Biogeography 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

12.10

自引率

3.10%

发文量

170

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Global Ecology and Biogeography (GEB) welcomes papers that investigate broad-scale (in space, time and/or taxonomy), general patterns in the organization of ecological systems and assemblages, and the processes that underlie them. In particular, GEB welcomes studies that use macroecological methods, comparative analyses, meta-analyses, reviews, spatial analyses and modelling to arrive at general, conceptual conclusions. Studies in GEB need not be global in spatial extent, but the conclusions and implications of the study must be relevant to ecologists and biogeographers globally, rather than being limited to local areas, or specific taxa. Similarly, GEB is not limited to spatial studies; we are equally interested in the general patterns of nature through time, among taxa (e.g., body sizes, dispersal abilities), through the course of evolution, etc. Further, GEB welcomes papers that investigate general impacts of human activities on ecological systems in accordance with the above criteria.