Soil moisture drives differences in the diversity and trophic complexity of high Arctic tundra soils

• Published in: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
• Main Authors: Almela, Pablo, Rico, Eugenio, Velázquez, David, Verleyen, Elie, Quesada, Antonio
• Other Authors: Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, MINECO, Research Council of Norway
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Ny-Ålesund; Svalbard; Ny Ålesund; Tundra
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiad050; https://academic.oup.com/femsec/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/femsec/fiad050/50381812/fiad050.pdf; https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article-pdf/99/6/fiad050/50492828/fiad050.pdf

Abstract The Arctic soil communities play a vital role in stabilizing and decomposing soil carbon, which affects the global carbon cycling. Studying the food web structure is critical for understanding biotic interactions and the functioning of these ecosystems. Here, we studied the trophic relationships of (microscopic) soil biota of two different Arctic spots in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, within a natural soil moisture gradient by combining DNA analysis with stable isotopes as trophic tracers. The results of our study suggested that the soil moisture strongly influenced the diversity of soil biota, with the wetter soil, having a higher organic matter content, hosting a more diverse community. Based on a Bayesian mixing model, the community of wet soil formed a more complex food web, in which bacterivorous and detritivorous pathways were important in supplying carbon and energy to the upper trophic levels. In contrast, the drier soil showed a less diverse community, lower trophic complexity, with the green food web (via unicellular green algae and gatherer organisms) playing a more important role in channelling energy to higher trophic levels. These findings are important to better understand the soil communities inhabiting the Arctic, and for predicting how the ecosystem will respond to the forthcoming changes in precipitation regimes.