Title: Consistently inconsistent drivers of microbial diversity and abundance at macroecological scales

Abstract

Macroecology seeks to understand broad-scale patterns in the diversity and abun- dance of organisms, but macroecologists typically study aboveground macroorganisms. Below- ground organisms regulate numerous ecosystem functions, yet we lack understanding of what drives their diversity. Here, we examine the controls on belowground diversity along latitudinal and elevational gradients. Furthermore, we performed a global meta-analysis of 325 soil communities across 20 studies conducted along temperature and soil pH gradients. Belowground taxa, whether bacterial or fungal, observed along a given gradient of temperature or soil pH were equally likely to show a linear increase, linear decrease, humped pattern, trough-shaped pattern, or no pattern in diversity along the gradient. Land-use intensity weakly affected the diversity-temperature relationship, but no other factor did so. Our study highlights disparities among diversity patterns of soil microbial communities. Belowground diversity may be controlled by the associated climatic and historical contexts of particular gradients, by factors not typically measured in community-level studies, or by processes operating at scales that do not match the temporal and spatial scales under study. Because these organisms are responsible for a suite of key processes, understanding the drivers of their distribution and diversity is fundamental to understanding the functioning of ecosystems.

Authors:

Hendershot, John Nicholas ^[1]; Read, Quentin D. ^[1]; Henning, Jeremiah A. ^[1]; Sanders, Nathan J. ^[2]; Classen, Aimée T. ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Rocky Mountain Biological Lab., Crested Butte, CO (United States)
2. Rocky Mountain Biological Lab., Crested Butte, CO (United States); Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, VT (United States); Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen (Denmark)

Publication Date:

Wed Apr 05 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

OSTI Identifier:

1501392

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1401772

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0010562; NSF-1136703

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Ecology

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 98; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0012-9658

Publisher:

Ecological Society of America (ESA)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES