Global mismatches in aboveground and belowground biodiversity
Abstract
© 2019 Society for Conservation Biology Human activities are accelerating global biodiversity change and have resulted in severely threatened ecosystem services. A large proportion of terrestrial biodiversity is harbored by soil, but soil biodiversity has been omitted from many global biodiversity assessments and conservation actions, and understanding of global patterns of soil biodiversity remains limited. In particular, the extent to which hotspots and coldspots of aboveground and soil biodiversity overlap is not clear. We examined global patterns of these overlaps by mapping indices of aboveground (mammals, birds, amphibians, vascular plants) and soil (bacteria, fungi, macrofauna) biodiversity that we created using previously published data on species richness. Areas of mismatch between aboveground and soil biodiversity covered 27% of Earth's terrestrial surface. The temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome had the highest proportion of grid cells with high aboveground biodiversity but low soil biodiversity, whereas the boreal and tundra biomes had intermediate soil biodiversity but low aboveground biodiversity. While more data on soil biodiversity are needed, both to cover geographic gaps and to include additional taxa, our results suggest that protecting aboveground biodiversity may not sufficiently reduce threats to soil biodiversity. Given the functional importance of soil biodiversity and the role of soils in human well-being, soil biodiversity should be considered further in policy agendas and conservation actions by adapting management practices to sustain soil biodiversity and considering soil biodiversity when designing protected areas.
Source or Periodical Title
Conservation Biology
ISSN
8888892
Page
1187-1192
Document Type
Article
Subject
aboveground-belowground, bacteria, bacterias, biodiversidad del suelo, disparidad, fungi, global patterns, hongos, macrofauna, macrofauna, mismatch, patrones mundiales, policy, políticas, sobre suelo – bajo suelo, soil biodiversity, 地表-地下; 细菌; 真菌; 全球格局; 大型动物群; 不匹配; 政策; 土壤生物多样性
Recommended Citation
Cameron, Erin K.; Martins, Inês S.; Lavelle, Patrick; Mathieu, Jérôme; Tedersoo, Leho; Bahram, Mohammad; Gottschall, Felix; Guerra, Carlos A.; and Hines, Jes, "Global mismatches in aboveground and belowground biodiversity" (2021). Journal Article. 635.
https://www.ukdr.uplb.edu.ph/journal-articles/635