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Fungal-bacterial diversity and microbiome complexity predict ecosystem functioning.

  • Wagg C Plant Soil Interactions, Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046, Zürich, Switzerland. cameron.wagg@canada.ca.
  • Schlaeppi K Plant Soil Interactions, Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046, Zürich, Switzerland.
  • Banerjee S Plant Soil Interactions, Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046, Zürich, Switzerland.
  • Kuramae EE Department of Microbial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
  • van der Heijden MGA Plant Soil Interactions, Division Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046, Zürich, Switzerland. marcel.vanderheijden@agroscope.admin.ch.
  • 2019-10-26
Published in:
  • Nature communications. - 2019
Bacteria
Biodiversity
Ecology
Ecosystem
Fungi
Grassland
Microbial Consortia
Microbiota
Soil Microbiology
English The soil microbiome is highly diverse and comprises up to one quarter of Earth's diversity. Yet, how such a diverse and functionally complex microbiome influences ecosystem functioning remains unclear. Here we manipulated the soil microbiome in experimental grassland ecosystems and observed that microbiome diversity and microbial network complexity positively influenced multiple ecosystem functions related to nutrient cycling (e.g. multifunctionality). Grassland microcosms with poorly developed microbial networks and reduced microbial richness had the lowest multifunctionality due to fewer taxa present that support the same function (redundancy) and lower diversity of taxa that support different functions (reduced  functional uniqueness). Moreover, different microbial taxa explained different ecosystem functions pointing to the significance of functional diversity in microbial communities. These findings indicate the importance of microbial interactions within and among fungal and bacterial communities for enhancing ecosystem performance and demonstrate that the extinction of complex ecological associations belowground can impair ecosystem functioning.
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  • English
Open access status
gold
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https://sonar.ch/global/documents/248743
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