Speaker
Description
Soil harbors a substantial proportion of global biodiversity, yet its large-scale biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Previous studies have primarily focused on local diversity (i.e. alpha diversity) within individual soil taxonomic groups, whereas global patterns of community turnover across sites (i.e., beta diversity) remains largely unexplored. To address this knowledge gap, we synthesized global datasets of community assembly in different soil taxonomic groups spanning a broad range of body sizes including earthworm, collembola, nematodes, protists, fungi, and bacteria. We examined how beta diversity varies with absolute latitude and assessed the relative importance of climatic, edaphic, habitat, anthropogenic, and elevational drivers. In parallel, we also evaluated large-scale patterns of alpha and gamma diversity. We found contrasting latitudinal patterns of beta diversity among taxonomic groups. Specifically, beta diversity of protists and nematodes declined with absolute latitude, consistent with the patterns commonly observed in aboveground organisms, while fungal and bacterial beta diversity tended to increase toward higher latitude. Across taxonomic groups, climatic variables consistently emerged as the primary drivers of biodiversity across spatial scales. Our findings highlight the importance of integrating multiple taxonomic groups to develop a more comprehensive understanding of global soil biodiversity patterns. Furthermore, our results suggest that ongoing climate change could substantially reshape soil communities worldwide.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| FOR TALKS: Poster Presentation Option | Yes, I’m willing to present as a poster. |