Analysis of the effects of mineral fertilization on species diversity and yield of permanent grasslands: revisited data to mediate economic and environmental needs

The 2013 reform of the European Common Agricultural Policy tries to support farmers willing to follow environment- friendly rural practices, by the so called “green payment”. Within this framework, it is suggested that governments and regions should maintain a certain ratio of the area of permanent grasslands to the total Utilized Agricultural Area according to the greening rules of the reform. However, the weak economic performance of permanent grasslands does not encourage farmers to invest into their conservation. This fact persuaded us to revisit our old unpublished data, obtained by experiments on the use of chemical fertilizers in permanent grasslands. By this reanalysis we hope to further support the new European policy with the perspective to find a trade-off between the conservation of the biodiversity and the economic productivity of permanent grasslands. Of the many possibilities we have chosen to present the results of two experiments, one in Italy and the other in Slovakia. The main reason for this choice was that these two studies followed complementary strategies of fertilization that appeared useful to detect both the single and the synergistic effects of N, P, and K on the relationships between yield and species diversity. The results of cluster and diversity analysis suggest that chemical fertilization should be carefully planned according to soil conditions, since different treatments may have the same effect on the floristic and vegetation patterns of grasslands. These results, according to similarity theory, allow to choose the least expensive and polluting combination of N, P and K from those that, according to the species combinations, are assigned to the same cluster

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

14 p.Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change

Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties. Datasets were required, at a minimum, to include abundance or biomass of earthworms at a site. Where possible, site-level species lists were included, as well as the abundance and biomass of individual species and ecological groups. This global dataset contains 10,840 sites, with 184 species, from 60 countries and all continents except Antarctica. The data were obtained from 182 published articles, published between 1973 and 2017, and 17 unpublished datasets. Amalgamating data into a single global database will assist researchers in investigating and answering a wide variety of pressing questions, for example, jointly assessing aboveground and belowground biodiversity distributions and drivers of biodiversity change.Peer reviewe