TY - JOUR

T1 - Cessation of grazing causes biodiversity loss and homogenization of soil food webs

AU - Schrama, Maarten

AU - Quist, Casper W.

AU - Arjen De Groot, G.

AU - Cieraad, Ellen

AU - Ashworth, Deborah

AU - Laros, Ivo

AU - Hansen, Lars Hestbjerg

AU - Leff, Jonathan

AU - Fierer, Noah

AU - Bardgett, Richard D.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - There is widespread concern that cessation of grazing in historically grazed ecosystems is causing biotic homogenization and biodiversity loss. We used 12 montane grassland sites along an 800 km north-south gradient across the UK, to test whether cessation of grazing affects local α- and β-diversity of below-ground food webs. We show cessation of grazing leads to strongly decreased α-diversity of most groups of soil microbes and fauna, particularly of relatively rare taxa. By contrast, the β-diversity varied between groups of soil organisms. While most soil microbial communities exhibited increased homogenization after cessation of grazing, we observed decreased homogenization for soil fauna after cessation of grazing. Overall, our results indicate that exclusion of domesticated herbivores from historically grazed montane grasslands has far-ranging negative consequences for diversity of below-ground food webs. This underscores the importance of grazers for maintaining the diversity of below-ground communities, which play a central role in ecosystem functioning.

AB - There is widespread concern that cessation of grazing in historically grazed ecosystems is causing biotic homogenization and biodiversity loss. We used 12 montane grassland sites along an 800 km north-south gradient across the UK, to test whether cessation of grazing affects local α- and β-diversity of below-ground food webs. We show cessation of grazing leads to strongly decreased α-diversity of most groups of soil microbes and fauna, particularly of relatively rare taxa. By contrast, the β-diversity varied between groups of soil organisms. While most soil microbial communities exhibited increased homogenization after cessation of grazing, we observed decreased homogenization for soil fauna after cessation of grazing. Overall, our results indicate that exclusion of domesticated herbivores from historically grazed montane grasslands has far-ranging negative consequences for diversity of below-ground food webs. This underscores the importance of grazers for maintaining the diversity of below-ground communities, which play a central role in ecosystem functioning.

KW - biotic homogenization

KW - grazing

KW - land abandonment

KW - soil communities

KW - soil fauna

KW - α-diversity

U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2023.1345

DO - 10.1098/rspb.2023.1345

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37964526

AN - SCOPUS:85177103440

VL - 290

JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8452

IS - 2011

M1 - 20231345

ER -