European Journal of Soil Biology最新文献

{"title":"Pedogenesis of volcanic ash soils determines the soil microbial pool and its contribution to nutrient availability","authors":"John Clunes ,&nbsp;Rebecca Hood-Nowotny ,&nbsp;Celia Férnandez-Balado ,&nbsp;Susan Valle ,&nbsp;Sabine Huber ,&nbsp;Ferdinand Hartmann ,&nbsp;Niklas Bruhn ,&nbsp;Christoph Rosinger ,&nbsp;Dante Pinochet ,&nbsp;Lorena Lagos ,&nbsp;Katharina Keiblinger","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103756","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103756","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pedogenesis is a key factor driving nutrient immobilization and mineralization, particularly relevant in the fertility management of volcanic soils. These processes have a strong effect on plant production, but also on the functionality of a soil microbial pool. This research aimed to determine the effect of substrate addition on soil microbial pool, substrate use and nitrogen availability by performing a double labeling study (¹³C and ¹⁵N isotope labeling) in five different volcanic ash soils under permanent pastures. Disturbed soil samples were collected in five volcanic ash soils between the Andes and Coastal Mountains of Chile to evaluate contrasting pedogenesis. Soils were incubated for 16 days at 20 °C and a 60 % water holding capacity. Destructive sampling was carried out on days 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 16. Labeling was tracked through the consumption by the microbial biomass, functional genes, stoichiometric imbalances between microbial C/N, enzymatic C/N and the release of CO₂ during the incubation period. Ultisol and well-developed Andisol (“Older soils”) with higher organic matter content (∼14 %) showed higher available ¹⁵N contents, higher ¹³C-CO₂ respiration, and immobilization of substrate into microbial biomass (i.e., ¹³C-MBC). This study found that depending on the pedogenesis of the soil, N availability from mineral N and N-acquiring enzyme activities changed as a function of a microbial pool inherent in each soil. Thus, the effect of the initial activity of the soil microbial pool on N availability will allow adjusting fertilization strategies in soils with high levels of organic matter such as volcanic ash soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103756"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144604821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating DNA extraction methods for eDNA metabarcoding of soil invertebrate diversity","authors":"Rumakanta Sapkota ,&nbsp;Živilė Buivydaitė ,&nbsp;Mille Anna Lilja ,&nbsp;Lea Ellegaard-Jensen ,&nbsp;Anne Winding ,&nbsp;Paul Henning Krogh","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103751","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103751","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) has been increasingly used in assessing soil biodiversity, primarily for microorganisms but also for invertebrates. Currently, conventional morphological identification (CMI) for detecting microarthropods and earthworms involves extracting them via heat treatment or hand-sorting from soil blocks, and subsequent morphological identification. To compare the soil fauna community composition assessment methods, we compared CMI, DNA metabarcoding of heat-extracted invertebrates (comDNA), and DNA extracted directly from soil (eDNA). For eDNA, two commercially available QIAGEN DNA extraction kits were further compared: DNeasy Powerlyzer PowerSoil kit (eDNA_PS), based on 0.25 g of soil, and DNeasy PowerMax soil kit (eDNA_PM), based on 10 g of soil. PowerMax captured higher richness, while PowerSoil captured diversity comparable to that of comDNA. In eDNA and comDNA samples, arthropods dominated the community composition, followed by annelids. Both eDNA and comDNA methods captured several overlapping species,; however, each method also detected unique ASVs. Interestingly, comDNA captured a higher abundance of several ASVs that were not detected in eDNA. Regardless of the methods used, the location of the soil sampled showed a significant effect on soil fauna community structure. Several species detected or shared in DNA-based methods were also shared with CMI, and a few collembolan species detected by eDNA were also correlated with the abundance data from CMI. Further, the community composition of collembolans varied between the comDNA and two eDNA (eDNA_PS, eDNA_PM) methods; however, more than one-third of the species were detected across all three methods. Our findings show the complementarity of eDNA and comDNA and support the integration of DNA-based methods in future soil fauna biodiversity assessment programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103751"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144523515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tracking assimilation of microbial biomass, leaf litter and artificially created soil organic matter by soil fauna using multi-resource stable isotope labelling","authors":"Amelie Hauer ,&nbsp;Andrey Zuev ,&nbsp;Antonis Chatzinotas ,&nbsp;Stephanie Jurburg ,&nbsp;Steffen Kümmel ,&nbsp;Anton Potapov","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103752","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103752","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the resource utilization of soil invertebrates is essential for elucidating nutrient cycling and energy flow in terrestrial ecosystems. The soil environment offers a wide range of resources to its consumers, including microbes, soil organic matter (SOM), and plant litter. Soil invertebrates are small and cryptic, and typically rely on diverse arrays of basal resources, making the determination of its specific contributions to the diets of distinct animal groups challenging. This study investigated the carbon and nitrogen flows from different organic resources to soil meso- and macrofauna using stable isotope dual-labelling (¹³C and ¹⁵N) in an experimental temperate forest mesocosm over a one-month period. Studied resources included bacterial and fungal biomass, leaf litter and artificial mineral-associated organic matter ‘a-MaOM’ made of microbial necromass and vermiculite – a newly developed substrate produced in-house to experimentally mimic stabilized SOM. Our findings indicate that mesofauna incorporated the isotopic label from bacteria and fungi within three days after label introduction, demonstrating their role as primary microbial consumers in soil food webs and highlighting the importance of microbial biomass as nutrient sources for soil mesofauna. In contrast, macrofauna showed no detectable label uptake during the entire experimental period, suggesting either dietary preferences for other, unidentified resources or reflecting physiological factors such as lower metabolic turnover and slower assimilation of labelled materials. No detectable label was found in the studied invertebrate groups in the a-MaOM and litter treatments during the short experimental period, indicating that its consumption by soil fauna was negligible in comparison to microbial biomass. Beyond feeding ecology, our study introduces a methodological innovation by producing stable ¹³C- and ¹⁵N-labelled a-MaOM, offering a new tool for experimentally tracking stabilized SOM pathways in soil food webs while its bioavailability to soil organisms remains to be studied. Overall, our results reveal distinct feeding strategies among soil invertebrates, emphasizing the importance of mesofauna-microorganism interactions in soil nutrient cycling and the differentiated feeding modes of meso- and macrofauna in temperate forest ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103752"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multifunctional endophytic bacteria intimately associated within spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a chernozem soil in Central Europe","authors":"Helmut Baltruschat ,&nbsp;Johanna Hummel ,&nbsp;Marit Gillmeister ,&nbsp;Stefan Ratering ,&nbsp;Kathrin Kabrodt ,&nbsp;Ewald Sieverding ,&nbsp;Fritz Oehl","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103760","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103760","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chernozems are counted among the most fertile soils worldwide. Unexpectedly high spore density and species richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) were found in a long-term field trial established on such a soil. The purpose of the present study was to estimate bacterial communities associated within spores of selected AMF species from a long-term field trial on a highly fertile Calcic Chernozem to unravel their diversity belonging to different genera and species. We hypothized that high AMF species richness found in the Chernozem soil is reflected in a bacterial diversity with multifunctional traits mediated by indigenous bacterial compositions. The AMF species <em>Funneliformis mosseae</em>, <em>Scutellospora calospora</em> and <em>Septoglomus nigrum</em> were selected, since they occurred abundantly both in reduced and conventional tillage systems. The pure cultures of isolated bacterial strains were tested for ecological functions (traits) such as phosphorus solubilization, siderophore production, indole-3-acetic acid production and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity. In addition, antimicrobial activity against both hemibiotrophic and necrotrophic fungi and oomycetes was evaluated. The majority of bacterial strains was exclusively associated with only one of the three AMF species, thus, giving evidence that each AMF species may harbor its own bacterial community. A large number of bacterial communities was shown to exert multifunctional activities ranging from plant growth promotion traits to antimicrobial activity. These findings suggest that the multifunctionality of bacteria intimately associated with AMF could markedly expand the ecological function of an autochthonous AMF population and empower host plants to explore robust ways to cope with changing environmental conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103760"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144724608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigating soil trophic links in a peatland, northeast China: Dual stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of microarthropods and their food sources","authors":"Dandan Liu ,&nbsp;Yiling Lin ,&nbsp;Haitao Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103761","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103761","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Peatlands are crucial global carbon sinks and key players in carbon cycles, with their soil food webs supporting vital ecosystem processes. However, trophic relationships and carbon source uses of soil microarthropods in peatlands are poorly understood, limiting our understanding of their role in material cycling and ecosystem stability. Here, we employed dual stable isotope analysis (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) to investigate the trophic structure and carbon source utilization of soil microarthropods (Collembola, Oribatida, and Mesostigmata) in the Hani Peatland of northeastern China. Our results reveal clear trophic differentiation among taxa, with Mesostigmata occupying higher positions and Oribatida displaying broader isotopic niches. Although Collembola exhibited a weak correlation between body mass and isotope values, this pattern was not consistent across taxa. Mosses, particularly <em>Polytrichum strictum</em>, contributed significantly to the carbon intake of Collembola and Oribatida. However, δ¹³C enrichment patterns suggest that carbon transfer is primarily mediated through moss-associated microbial pathways rather than direct moss consumption. These findings provide novel insights into the structure and functioning of peatland soil food webs and highlight the ecological importance of microarthropods in belowground biogeochemical cycling. Understanding their roles is critical for predicting peatland responses to environmental change and informing conservation strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103761"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144780379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of grassland management intensity on associations between bacterial, fungal and plant communities","authors":"Johanna Mayerhofer ,&nbsp;Franziska Richter ,&nbsp;Aaron Fox ,&nbsp;Franco Widmer ,&nbsp;Andreas Lüscher ,&nbsp;Valentin Klaus ,&nbsp;Martin Hartmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103754","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103754","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding co-occurrences of different taxa is of both fundamental and applied relevance, for example, to understand ecosystem processes and to design monitoring programs for above- and belowground biodiversity. Plants and microorganisms form complex, interdependent relationships, which are exposed to and may be compromised by agricultural management. Here we assessed the effect of grassland management intensities on bacterial, fungal and plant communities and their associations. We further analyzed the potential of inferring information from taxa of one community on structural changes of the other communities with the aim of potentially enhancing the efficiency of biodiversity assessments by finding common indicator taxa. For that, bacterial, fungal and plant communities as well as environmental factors were assessed in 89 grassland sites of either extensive type (no fertilization, late and infrequent cuttings) or intensive type (fertilization, early and frequent cuttings) of management in the Swiss lowlands.</div><div>Bacterial, fungal and plant community structures as well as plant indicator values for soil nutrients and moisture differed between management types. Also, community homogeneity was significantly higher for all communities in the intensively managed grassland. For bacterial community structures, this was likely related to a smaller soil pH range in intensively managed grassland, while a lower fungal and plant richness may have caused more homogenous fungal and plant community structures in intensively managed grassland. Further, correlation strength among community structures dropped by 25–66 % from extensively to intensively managed grassland. Finally, indicator analysis suggested that future monitoring programs may use plant taxa to estimate expected effects on fungal communities and vice versa, but bacterial communities require additional assessment. Our results revealed a multifaceted and profound effect of management on bacterial, fungal and plant communities, which reinforces the conservation value of extensively managed grassland.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103754"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144581420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Combining effects of nitrogen fertilizer and biochar on soil N2O emissions and microbial community in a subtropical rapeseed-soybean rotation","authors":"Chi Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhibo Li ,&nbsp;Yulin Miao ,&nbsp;Xiaolin Liao","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103750","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103750","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reducing nitrogen fertilizer application is a key strategy for mitigating soil N₂O emissions in agriculture. Biochar has great potential in reducing excessive fertilizer use. However, the interactive effects of biochar and nitrogen (N) fertilization on N₂O emissions are poorly understood. This study investigated how varying N fertilization (H: 100 %, M: 75 %, and L: 50 % of the conventional urea application rate) and biochar application rates (B0: 0 t ha⁻², B1: 15 t ha⁻², and B2: 60 t ha⁻²) affect N₂O emissions, microbial community, and the abundance of N₂O-related functional genes (<em>amoA</em>, <em>nirS</em>, <em>nirK</em>, and <em>nosZ</em>) in a subtropical oilseed rape (<em>Brassica napus</em> L.)-soybean (<em>Glycine max</em> (L.) Merrill) rotation system. Compared to control treatments (B0), biochar increased soil cumulative N₂O emissions by 55–61.5 % in the oilseed season and 200–245 % in the soybean season. Biochar also significantly increased microbial diversity and altered bacterial community composition, with notable shifts in the relative abundance of key phyla such as Bacillota, Bacteroidota, Armatimonadota, and Nitrospirota. These effects were more pronounced under higher biochar application, likely driven by increases in soil total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), and ammonium (NH₄⁺-N). Biochar increased the abundance of N₂O-related genes but had no significant effect on the (<em>nirS</em> + <em>nirK</em>)/<em>nosZ</em> ratio. Co-occurrence network analysis further revealed that biochar altered microbial interactions in a rate- and season-dependent manner, with high rate simplifying the network and potentially disrupting community stability, especially during the soybean season. In contrast, N fertilizer had limited effects on N₂O emissions, microbial diversity or community structure. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM) suggested that biochar increased N₂O emissions primarily by enhancing soil TC, TN, pH, and denitrification process, while N fertilizer may affect N₂O emissions through nitrification. These findings highlight the need for optimized biochar and fertilizer management strategies and emphasize the importance of identifying N₂O production pathways and conducting long-term field studies to ensure the sustainable use of biochar in agriculture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103750"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144472179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil depth affects bacterial, but not fungal community structure and assembly in Robinia pseudoacacia plantations","authors":"Long Lv ,&nbsp;Jingui Zhang ,&nbsp;Charles P.-A. Bourque ,&nbsp;Qian Xiang ,&nbsp;Jianjun Zhang ,&nbsp;Xianlong Yang ,&nbsp;Jianxiao Zhu ,&nbsp;Jingyong Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103747","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103747","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forest soil microbial communities play an important role in nutrient cycling and overall ecosystem functioning; however, their responses to variations in soil depth and forest age (chronosequence) remain insufficiently understood. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate how microbial community assembly varies across soil depths and forest ages to enhance our understanding of microbial diversity and its role in forest ecosystem functioning. In this study, we used 16S rRNA gene and ITS sequencing to characterize bacterial and fungal community traits in both topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (70–100 cm) layers in <em>Robinia pseudoacacia</em> plantations ranging in age from 10 to 50 years old. The results revealed that soil depth significantly influenced bacterial diversity, whereas fungal diversity remained largely unaffected. Bacterial diversity was significantly higher in the topsoil compared to the subsoil (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), while fungal diversity did not differ significantly between the two soil layers (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). The composition of bacterial and fungal communities was significantly influenced by both soil depth and forest age. Community assembly processes for both groups were predominantly governed by deterministic factors, specifically homogeneous selection. However, with increasing forest age, β-nearest taxon index (βNTI) for bacterial communities significantly decreased in both soil layers, whereas βNTI for fungal communities increased in the topsoil. Soil carbon (C) composition, specifically soil organic C (SOC) and particulate organic C (POC), emerged as the main factors regulating variation in bacterial and fungal assembly processes across the chronosequence of <em>R. pseudoacacia</em> plantations. Network analysis revealed that bacterial network structures in the subsoil were more complex than those in the topsoil. Furthermore, our study highlights that SOC, POC, easily oxidizable organic C (EOC), and total nitrogen (TN) were identified as key environmental factors influencing microbial community composition, co-occurrence network patterns, and assembly processes across soil layers. Our study underscores the critical role of soil C composition in shaping forest soil microbial communities. This study provides empirical evidence that vertical heterogeneity in C availability mediates depth-dependent microbial assembly during forest succession, offering mechanistic insights into strategies for enhancing subsoil C sequestration in ecologically fragile areas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103747"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144338935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trophic niche variation in springtails across soil depth","authors":"Jing-Zhong Lu ,&nbsp;Melissa Jüds ,&nbsp;Linlin Zhong ,&nbsp;Johannes Lux ,&nbsp;Stefan Scheu ,&nbsp;Amandine Erktan","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103745","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103745","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil invertebrates move vertically through the soil to forage and avoid environmental stress. However, how their diet shifts with depth remains poorly understood, limiting our understanding of their trophic plasticity. Trophic consistency across depths could result from similar trophic niches existing at the microscale within different soil layers (the micro-scale feeding hypothesis). To test this, we conducted a microcosm experiment incubating springtails (<em>Ceratophysella denticulata</em>) in six separate forest soil layers (O_L, and O_F/H, and 0–3, 3–6, 6–9 and 9–12 cm depth of the mineral soil) and analysed changes in Collembola stable isotope ratios (¹³C/¹²C, ¹⁵N/¹⁴N). As expected, ¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratios in litter and soil organic matter increased with depth, whereas ¹³C/¹²C ratios of Collembola did not significantly differ across layers suggesting consistent basal resource use supporting the micro-scale feeding hypothesis. By contrast, ¹⁵N/¹⁴N ratios of Collembola increased with depth, following the trend of organic matter from O_L to 0–3 cm soil, but not beyond. These results suggest that carbon and nitrogen nutrition of springtails is decoupled, and that the use of litter to calibrate ¹⁵N/¹⁴N values for estimating trophic positions of soil animals requires careful interpretation. Our results highlight the importance of soil depth as determinant of trophic positions of soil animals and point to principle differences in nitrogen resource acquisition between litter and soil in soil animal decomposers. Overall, the vertical structure of soils and a microscale view of trophic interactions needs closer attention to better understand niche differentiation and resource acquisition of soil animals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"126 ","pages":"Article 103745"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144289021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The hidden shift: The role of exotic plantations in modulating soil arthropod communities in an arid island","authors":"Adolfo Perdomo-González ,&nbsp;Raquel Pérez-Reverón ,&nbsp;Marta Goberna ,&nbsp;Heriberto López ,&nbsp;Paula Arribas ,&nbsp;J. Alfredo Reyes-Betancort ,&nbsp;Carmelo Andújar ,&nbsp;Francisco J. Díaz-Peña","doi":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103724","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejsobi.2025.103724","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reforestation with exotic species has often been used in arid and semiarid areas to restore degraded ecosystems. However, the effects of these plantations on soil biodiversity are still under debate. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the long-term impacts (&gt;60 years) of exotic plantations with <em>Acacia cyclops</em> and <em>Pinus halepensis</em> on soil biodiversity in an insular arid ecosystem of high ecological value. To do so, we study soil quality and soil arthropod communities in patches of vegetation under uniform edaphoclimatic conditions. Soil quality assessment was carried out by developing an ad-hoc Soil Quality Index (SQI) across seven sites, including two plantations (<em>Pinus</em> or <em>Acacia</em>), two degraded areas with a low cover of native species, and three sites with a high cover of native species. Whole organism community DNA (wocDNA) metabarcoding and barcoding were used to analyse key soil arthropod groups (Coleoptera, Acari and Collembola) recognized as habitat quality and biodiversity indicators. Our findings show that exotic plantations improved soil quality compared to degraded sites, with a considerable increase in the organic carbon pool, macronutrients and microbiological activity (SQI = 0.53 ± 0.12 <em>vs.</em> 0.29 ± 0.06). This improvement did not reach the values recorded in soils with a high cover of preserved native flora (SQI = 0.65 ± 0.12), with some exceptions. Richness of mesofauna and Coleoptera was lower in degraded areas (4.4 ± 1.6 and 0.4 ± 0.7, respectively) followed by exotic plantations (9.5 ± 2.6 and 1.2 ± 0.9) and permanent native vegetation (14.1 ± 5.5 and 2.2 ± 1.8). Soil quality significantly explained up to 52 % and 17 % of the variance in the richness of mesofauna and Coleoptera, respectively. While exotic plantations appear to prevent further land degradation in terms of soil quality, multivariate analysis shows that the structure of soil arthropod communities, particularly in <em>Pinus</em> plantations and to a lesser extent in <em>Acacia</em> plantations, differs significantly from that of soils in ecosystems with remnant native flora. These results highlight the need for a careful balance between biodiversity conservation and soil health management, especially in areas susceptible to desertification.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12057,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Soil Biology","volume":"125 ","pages":"Article 103724"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143792634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}