Effects of urbanization and different land use types on soil eukaryotic biodiversity

doi:10.17520/biods.2024540

Abstract

Abstract:

Background & Aims: With the continuous acceleration of urbanization, large areas of forest and farmland are being occupied by urban buildings, roads and other infrastructures. These land use changes caused by urbanization may lead to soil biodiversity loss. However, research on soil biodiversity is still insufficient. As an important component of soil biodiversity, soil eukaryotes play a key role in maintaining soil health. The purpose of this study is to explore the diversity characteristics of eukaryotes in urban soil and their environmental drivers.
Method: We selected two types of non-urban land (forest and farmland) and five types of urban green spaces (park, greenbelt, industrial area, residential area, and hospital) in Ningbo City. The diversity of soil eukaryotes (including fungi, Protozoa, Nematoda, Arthropoda and Annelida) was analyzed in response to urbanization and land use types.
Results: The richness of eukaryotes in urban greenspaces was significantly lower than that in farmland, and the richness of Arthropoda in urban greenspaces soil was significantly lower than that in forest land, and the decline in the richness of Protozoa in the soil of urban greenbelt is most pronounced. The β diversity of soil eukaryotes was significantly different between forest, farmland, and urban greenspaces. There was no significant difference in β diversity of soil eukaryotes among the five urban greenspaces, except for the Annelida. The differences among all soil eukaryotic groups at different land use types were mainly driven by β turnover components. Soil pH and total phosphorus content may be the main driving factors affecting the diversity of soil eukaryotic community. Among them, the richness of fungi and Annelida were negatively correlated with soil pH, texture and water content also decreased the Protozoa richness, while the increase of total phosphorus content was positively correlated with the Protozoa richness.
Perspectives: In general, urban greenspaces will lead to the homogenization of eukaryotic groups, and enhance the spatial heterogeneity of soil physical and chemical properties through soil improvement and other means, thus creating possibilities for the improvement of urban soil eukaryotic biodiversity.

Key words: urbanization, land use, urban greenspaces, soil eukaryotes, soil pH, soil total phosphorus content

Ma Shangfei, Gong Xin, Shangguan Huayuan, Yao Haifeng, Wang Bin, Li Zhipeng, Sun Xin. Effects of urbanization and different land use types on soil eukaryotic biodiversity[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2025, 33(3): 24540.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2024540

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2025/V33/I3/24540

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 The collection locations and landforms of different land use types in Ningbo City

Fig. 2 The proportion of 18S rRNA-based sequences of soil eukaryotic taxa (Unclassified eukaryotic sequences were removed)

Fig. 3 The α diversity of fungi, Protozoa, Nematoda, Arthropoda, Annelida and total eukaryotes. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to examine the differences among land use types (forest, farmland, park, residential area, industrial area, greenbelt, hospital), P < 0.05 indicates a significant difference between the different land use types. The Dunn test was employed to compare the differences in soil eukaryotic richness among the different land use types, where lowercase letters represent differences among all land use types, and uppercase letters represent differences among forest, farmland, and urban greenspaces.

Fig. 4 Principal coordinate analysis of soil fungi, Protozoa, Nematoda, Arthropoda, Annelida and total eukaryotes among different land use types. Coordinates ellipses representing 95% confidence intervals. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001.

Table 1 The influence of soil physicochemical factors on the abundance of fungi, Protozoa, Nematoda, Arthropoda, Annelida, and total eukaryotes

土壤理化性质 Soil properties	真菌 Fungi		原生生物 Protozoa		线虫 Nematoda		节肢动物 Arthropoda		环节动物 Annelida		总体真核生物 Total eukaryotes
土壤理化性质 Soil properties	E	P	E	P	E	P	E	P	E	P	E	P
含水率 Moisture (%)	-0.56	0.67	-3.84	0.05	-0.16	0.40	-0.13	0.53	-0.10	0.18	-5.29	0.09
酸碱度 pH	-20.22	0.02	-31.18	0.01	0.76	0.54	-1.24	0.36	-1.05	0.03	-58.65	0.01
总磷 TP (g/kg)	12.69	0.50	90.09	0.01	-4.72	0.09	-5.89	0.06	-1.92	0.08	92.18	0.04
总碳 TC (g/kg)	2.83	0.64	-13.48	0.13	-0.69	0.43	-1.36	0.16	-0.25	0.47	-14.18	0.32
总氮 TN (g/kg)	-49.93	0.51	131.24	0.23	9.57	0.38	17.78	0.14	3.56	0.40	122.52	0.49
碳氮比 C/N	-1.94	0.82	17.94	0.16	1.26	0.33	2.32	0.10	0.30	0.55	22.58	0.28
黏粒 Clay (%)	-5.44	0.45	-28.84	0.01	-0.19	0.86	-0.88	0.44	-0.33	0.42	-39.58	0.02
粉粒 Silt (%)	-9.69	0.09	-20.28	0.02	-0.08	0.92	-1.34	0.14	-0.18	0.58	-34.56	0.01
砂粒 Sand (%)	-8.88	0.19	-22.56	0.03	-0.07	0.94	-1.16	0.28	-0.23	0.50	-36.07	0.03

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