Soil macrofauna communities in Brazilian land-use systems

Soil animal communities include more than 40 higher-order taxa, representing over 23% of all described species. These animals have a wide range of feeding sources and contribute to several important soil functions and ecosystem services. Although many studies have assessed macroinvertebrate communities in Brazil, few of them have been published in journals and even fewer have made the data openly available for consultation and further use. As part of ongoing efforts to synthesise the global soil macrofauna communities and to increase the amount of openly-accessible data in GBIF and other repositories related to soil biodiversity, the present paper provides links to 29 soil macroinvertebrate datasets covering 42 soil fauna taxa, collected in various land-use systems in Brazil. A total of 83,085 georeferenced occurrences of these taxa are presented, based on quantitative estimates performed using a standardised sampling method commonly adopted worldwide to collect soil macrofauna populations, i.e. the TSBF (Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme) protocol. This consists of digging soil monoliths of 25 x 25 cm area, with handsorting of the macroinvertebrates visible to the naked eye from the surface litter and from within the soil, typically in the upper 0-20 cm layer (but sometimes shallower, i.e. top 0-10 cm or deeper to 0-40 cm, depending on the site). The land-use systems included anthropogenic sites managed with agricultural systems (e.g. pastures, annual and perennial crops, agroforestry), as well as planted forests and native vegetation located mostly in the southern Brazilian State of Paraná (96 sites), with a few additional sites in the neighbouring states of São Paulo (21 sites) and Santa Catarina (five sites). Important metadata on soil properties, particularly soil chemical parameters (mainly pH, C, P, Ca, K, Mg, Al contents, exchangeable acidity, Cation Exchange Capacity, Base Saturation and, infrequently, total N), particle size distribution (mainly % sand, silt and clay) and, infrequently, soil moisture and bulk density, as well as on human management practices (land use and vegetation cover) are provided. These data will be particularly useful for those interested in estimating land-use change impacts on soil biodiversity and its implications for below-ground foodwebs, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem service delivery.Quantitative estimates are provided for 42 soil animal taxa, for two biodiversity hotspots: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. Data are provided at the individual monolith level, representing sampling events ranging from February 2001 up to September 2016 in 122 sampling sites and over 1800 samples, for a total of 83,085 ocurrences

Recording earthworm diversity on the tropical island of Martinique using DNA barcoding unveiled endemic species in bromeliad plants

International audienceIn a context of accelerating biodiversity loss, some species may become extinct before taxonomists have time to collect and describe them. This is an even more critical problem for taxa with poor taxonomic knowledge, such as earthworms in the tropics. To overcome this taxonomic impediment, we investigated earthworm diversity on the tropical island of Martinique using DNA barcoding. Firstly, we sampled earthworms at 81 sites evenly distributed in two categories corresponding to natural and anthropized environments. We obtained a total of 684 sequences of a fragment of the COI gene. MOTU delimitation and morphological identification suggested that this dataset corresponded to 49 putative species, of which 16 were known exotic species. The rarefaction curve suggested that the sampling effort was not sufficient to capture total earthworm diversity in the natural environment and that many more species could be discovered. Secondly, we focused on a heterogeneous landscape around the town of Morne Rouge, where arboreal earthworms were sampled using a standardized protocol. We found 8 different species in epiphytic plants, three of which were found almost exclusively in bromeliad plants that were sampled above 1.4 metres from the ground. The presence of these species, probably endemic to Martinique and new to science, was significantly correlated to the proportion of forest land cover. The most common earthworm in these habitats was Dichogaster andina, an exotic species found in bromeliads and Heliconia plants that were sampled at every height from the bottom of the tree up to 6.8 metres. Its presence was correlated to the proportion of total river length in the landscape, suggesting that rivers may act as a dispersal vector. This study therefore highlights the great diversity of earthworms in Martinique, while emphasizing the main threats to this biodiversity, namely the alteration of habitats and the presence of invasive species

Environmental drivers of earthworm communities along an elevational gradient in the French Alps

International audienceElevational diversity gradients describe how species diversity and richness change with elevation. In this study, we tested for the effect of climate, resource quality and habitat heterogeneity on earthworm communities along an elevational gradient and around the treeline in the French Alps. Earthworm communities and environmental properties (i.e. climate, soil properties, vegetation structure and composition) were sampled at six elevations ranging from 1400 to 2400 m. Results were analysed through multi-table factorial analyses and structural equation modelling. We found average density, biomass and species richness in the range of that usually reported in comparable ecosystems. We found no monotonic decrease in species richness along the elevational gradient, which we explain by the species pool being dominated by taxa with high environmental tolerance and dispersal capacities. Instead, we highlighted the ecotone associated with the treeline as the primary driving factor of earthworm communities: at 1800-2000m elevation, communities were more abundant and diverse, and had a greater variability in body mass. This result was largely explained by the structure and composition of the vegetation, whereas soil and climate appeared to have only indirect effects. Therefore, the treeline effect on earthworm communities can be explained both by the effect of environmental heterogeneity and of trophic resource quality that increases at the ecotone level

Shifts in soil and plant functional diversity along an altitudinal gradient in the French Alps

International audienceAltitude integrates changes in environmental conditions that determine shifts in vegetation, including temperature, precipitation, radiation and edaphogenetic processes. In turn, vegetation alters soil biophysical properties through litter input, root growth, microbial and macrofaunal interactions. The belowground traits of plant communities modify soil processes in different ways, but it is not known how root traits influence soil biota at the community level. We collected data to investigate how elevation affects belowground community traits and soil microbial and faunal communities. This dataset comprises data from a temperate climate in France and a twin study was performed in a tropical zone in Mexico.Data description: The paper describes soil physical and chemical properties, climatic variables, plant community composition and species abundance, plant community traits, soil microbial functional diversity and macrofaunal abundance and diversity. Data are provided for six elevations (1400 – 2400 m) ranging from montane forest to alpine prairie. We focused on soil biophysical properties beneath three dominant plant species that structure local vegetation. These data are useful for understanding how shifts in vegetation communities affect belowground processes, such as water infiltration, soil aggregation and carbon storage. Data will also help researchers understand how plant communitiesadjust to a changing climate/environmen

Soil macrofauna communities in Brazilian land use systems

Soil animal communities include more than 40 higher-order taxa, representing over 23% of all described species. These animals have a wide range of feeding sources and contribute to several important soil functions and ecosystem services. Although many studies have assessed macroinvertebrate communities in Brazil, few of them have been published in journals, and even fewer have made the data openly available for consultation and further use. As part of ongoing efforts to synthesize the global soil macrofauna communities, and to increase the amount of openly accessible data in GBIF and other repositories related to soil biodiversity, the present paper provides links to 29 soil macroinvertebrate datasets covering 42 soil fauna taxa, collected in various land use systems in Brazil. A total of 82,797 georeferenced occurrences of these taxa are presented, based on quantitative estimates performed using a standardize sampling method commonly adopted worldwide to collect soil macrofauna populations, i.e., the TSBF (Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme) protocol. This consists in digging soil monoliths of 25 x 25 cm area, with hansorting of the macroinvertebrates visible to the naked eye from the surface litter and from within the soil at depths of 10 to 40 cm). The land use systems included anthropogenic sites managed with agricultural systems (e.g., pastures, annual and perennial crops, agroforestry), as well as planted forests, and native vegetation located mostly in the Southern Brazilian state of Paraná (96 sites), with a few additional sites in the neighboring states of São Paulo (21 sites) and Santa Catarina (5 sites). Important metadata on soil properties, particularly soil chemical analyses (mainly pH, C, P, Ca, K, Mg, Al contents, Exchangeable acidity, Cation Exchange Capacity, Base Saturation, and infrequently total N) and particle size distribution (mainly % sand, silt and clay, and infrequently soil moisture, bulk density), as well as on human management practices (land use and vegetation cover) are provided, in order to better estimate land use change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Quantitative estimates are provided for 42 soil animal taxa, for two biodiversity hotspots: the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes. Data are provided at the individual monolith level, representing sampling events ranging from February 2001 up to September 2016 in 122 sampling sites and over 1800 samples, for a total of 82,797 ocurrences