Predicting European forest soil biodiversity and its functioning under ongoing climate change

尽管森林是欧洲最大的生态系统，但在过去关于土壤生物多样性如何影响生态系统服务的研究中，森林仍然处于边缘地位。这一点至关重要，因为森林土壤在碳(C)循环中发挥着关键作用，对减缓气候变化的政策产生重大影响。为了预测气候条件的变化，林业的决策集中在树种和密度的选择上，而完全忽视了地下的多样性。然而，土壤生物多样性可以强烈影响生态系统对气候变化的抵抗力和恢复力。通过土壤欧洲，我们建议评估(1)土壤生物多样性如何在广泛的气候梯度下与树木多样性相关；(2)土壤生物多样性的变化如何影响土壤过程；(3)土壤生物多样性及其驱动的过程如何应对严重干旱事件；(4)森林管理者、利益相关者和公众对土壤生物多样性的有限知识如何影响气候变化下的正确决策。我们通过在六个不同的欧洲国家利用现有的现场站点网络来解决这些问题。在实地和欧洲Ecotron进行的其他实验将使人们能够详细地了解土壤生物多样性对生态系统功能的影响。通过基因组学、高分辨率通量测量、森林管理者和最终用户的调查和选择实验等方法，我们的前沿跨学科研究将改变欧洲土壤生物多样性的认识和管理。

Despite being the largest ecosystem in Europe forests remained marginal in the past research efforts on how soil biodiversity affects ecosystem services. This is critical since forest soils play a key role in the carbon (C) cycle, with a strong impact on climate change mitigation policy. In order to anticipate changing climatic conditions, decision making in forestry concentrates on the choice of tree species to be planted and their densities, neglecting belowground diversity entirely. However, soil biodiversity can strongly affect ecosystem resistance and resilience to climate change. With SoilForEUROPE we propose to assess (1) how soil biodiversity is related to tree diversity across a broad climatic gradient, (2) how changes in soil biodiversity affect soil processes, (3) how soil biodiversity and the processes it drives respond to severe drought events, and (4) how the limited knowledge on soil biodiversity by forest managers, stakeholders and the general public may impair proper decision making in the face of climate change. We address these issues by taking advantage of an existing network of field sites in six different European countries. Additional experiments in the field and in the European Ecotron will allow a detailed mechanistic understanding of soil biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. With approaches ranging from genomics, to high resolution flux measurements, and to surveys and choice experiments for forest managers and end-users, our cutting edge interdisciplinary research will change the perception and management of soil biodiversity in Europe.