Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile.
Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias, Santiago, Chile.
Sci Rep. 2020 May 8;10(1):7762. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64453-y.
The global expansion of tree plantations is often claimed to have positive effects for mitigating global warming, preventing soil erosion, and reducing biodiversity loss. However, questions remain unanswered about the impacts of plantations on belowground diversity and soil properties. Here, we examine how forestry plantations of exotic trees affect critical soil functions and the composition of invertebrate assemblages, by comparing invertebrate diversity and soil physico-chemical properties between non-native Pinus radiata plantations, and nearby native forests in a region of extensive plantation activity in south-central Chile. We quantified differences in diversity, abundance, and community composition of soil invertebrates, as well as fundamental soil properties such as soil water content, water infiltration, nutrient status, and pH. We show that in this landscape mosaic of native forest and plantations, both soil invertebrate communities and physical soil properties differed significantly between systems, despite similar soil origins and topographies. We found a significant loss of soil carbon and a major reduction in taxonomic and functional diversity of soil invertebrates in pine plantation sites. Soil biotic and abiotic characteristics of plantations differed significantly from native forests in plantation-dominated south-central Chile, with profound consequences for ecosystem processes and resilience to future climate change.
全球范围内人工林的扩张常被认为对缓解全球变暖、防止土壤侵蚀和减少生物多样性丧失具有积极影响。然而，对于人工林对地下多样性和土壤特性的影响，仍存在一些尚未解答的问题。在这里，我们通过比较智利中南部广泛种植人工林地区的非本地辐射松人工林与附近原生林之间的无脊椎动物多样性和土壤理化性质，来研究外来树种的人工林如何影响关键的土壤功能和无脊椎动物群落的组成。我们量化了土壤无脊椎动物的多样性、丰度和群落组成，以及土壤水分含量、水分入渗、养分状况和 pH 值等基本土壤性质的差异。我们表明，在这种由原生林和人工林组成的景观镶嵌体中，尽管土壤起源和地形相似，但土壤无脊椎动物群落和物理土壤性质在系统之间存在显著差异。我们发现，在松林种植点，土壤碳明显流失，土壤无脊椎动物的分类和功能多样性也大幅减少。在以种植园为主的智利中南部，种植园的土壤生物和非生物特性与原生林有显著差异，这对生态系统过程和对未来气候变化的恢复能力产生了深远影响。
