Soil microbes regulate the relationships between plant diversity and ecosystem functions

doi:10.17520/biods.2024579

Abstract

Abstract:

Background & Aim: Higher plant diversity is known to promote ecosystem functions, with the positive relationship typically attributed to plant-plant interactions. However, a growing body of literature has revealed the crucial role of soil microorganisms in regulating the relationships between plant diversity and ecosystem functions.

Progresses: This review first summarizes how plant diversity affects soil microbes and how soil microbes, in turn, influence ecosystem functions. It then focuses on the specific soil microbial functional groups and summarizes the research progress on how they mediate the relationships between plant diversity and productivity. Taken together, soil microorganisms may indirectly affect ecosystem functions by responding to changes in plant diversity, or they may also directly mediate the interactions between plant diversity and ecosystem functions.

Perspectives: Future studies should prioritize the pathways through which soil microbes regulate the relationships between plant diversity and ecosystem functions, as well as quantify the relative contribution of soil microbes and environmental factors to these relationships. This will provide new insights into understanding the impacts of biodiversity loss in the context of global climate change.

Key words: plant diversity, plant productivity, soil microbial diversity, microbial functional group, mycorrhizal fungi, pathogen

Song Wei, Cheng Cai, Wang Jiawei, Wu Jihua. Soil microbes regulate the relationships between plant diversity and ecosystem functions[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2025, 33(4): 24579.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2024579

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2025/V33/I4/24579

Figures/Tables 3

Fig. 1 Conceptual diagram illustrating the role of soil microorganisms in regulating the plant diversity-ecosystem functions relationships. The arrows indicate the pathways. Plant diversity directly influences ecosystem functions (pathway 1), and indirectly influences ecosystem functions through its effects on soil microorganisms (pathway 2). Soil microorganisms directly mediate the plant diversity-ecosystem functions relationships (pathway 3). AMF, Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; EMF, Ectomycorrhizal fungi.

Fig. 2 Conceptual figure illustrating the mechanisms by which mycorrhizal fungi drive plant diversity-productivity relationships. Black and white circles represent plant species associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF), respectively, with varying line styles denoting different plant species, and the size of the circles indicating the relative strength of resource utilization capabilities of the plant species. For plants in association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, under high plant diversity conditions, AM fungi primarily enhance the positive effect of plant diversity on productivity by promoting complementary resource use among hosts (A). For plants associated with ectomycorrhizal fungi, although complementary utilization among hosts is present, they primarily strengthen the relationship between plant diversity and productivity by enhancing the resource utilization capacity of specific hosts (B). When hosts coexist with both types of mycorrhizal fungi, both of these effects are concurrent (C).

Fig. 3 Three hypotheses on pathogen-driven plant diversity-productivity relationships. When pathogens exert equivalent suppressive effects on plant communities of varying diversities, the slope of the plant diversity-productivity relationship remains unchanged after the disappearance of pathogens (A). When a dominant species occupies a leading position in a high-diversity plant community, due to its relatively high abundance, the suppressive effect of pathogens on high-diversity communities is stronger than on low-diversity communities, thus the slope of the plant diversity-productivity relationship will increase after the disappearance of pathogens (B). When pathogen host specificity and negative density dependence effects function, the suppressive effect of pathogens on low-diversity plant communities is stronger than on high-diversity communities, then the slope of the plant diversity-productivity relationship will decrease after the disappearance of pathogens (C).

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