Plants, soil properties and microbes directly and positively drive ecosystem multifunctionality in a plantation chronosequence

Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) is the main plantation species in the subtropical region of China. However, the shift in ecosystem multifunctionality with stand development remains largely unexplored for these plantations. This study used a chronosequence to investigate the variations of ecosystem multifunctionality by employing individual functions and identified its driving factors in Chinese fir plantations. The findings provide strong evidence that the individual functions of carbon stocks, water regulation and wood production increased with stand ages, but the tradeoff of individual functions did not significantly increase ecosystem multifunctionality. Soil microbial parameters (the abundances of bacteria, fungi and actinomycete), soil properties (soil moisture, total carbon and total nitrogen), and plant parameters (the shrub layer cover and total understory cover) exhibited positive correlations with ecosystem multifunctionality. The structural equation model revealed that plants, soil properties and microbes pathways explained 83% of the total variance in ecosystem multifunctionality. Results showed that plants, soil microbes and properties directly and significantly affected ecosystem multifunctionality with path coefficients of 0.404, 0.487 and 0.334, respectively. Soil microbes were identified as the top direct predictor for ecosystem multifunctionality, while plant and soil properties had strong direct and positive effects on ecosystem multifunctionality. These results verified that soil microbes, plants and soil properties directly and positively regulated ecosystem multifunctionality. Our findings demonstrate that ecosystem multifunctionality should be considered as a comprehensive ecological indicator for ecosystem services and functions, and sustainable plantation management. This study highlights the importance of conserving soil microbes for maintaining multifunctionality in Chinese fir plantations.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  Land Degradation & Development

• Publication date

  2022-05-31

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/ldr.4371
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Changes in soil nematodes in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils following combined elevated [CO2] and canopy warming in a winter wheat field

  2021cited by this paper
• Increase of soil nitrogen availability and recycling with stand age of Chinese-fir plantations

  2021cited by this paper
• Ecosystem service multifunctionality of Chinese fir plantations differing in stand age and implications for sustainable management.

  2021influential reference
• Microbial diversity regulates ecosystem multifunctionality during natural secondary succession

  2021cited by this paper
• Nature restoration shifts the abundance and structure of soil nematode communities in subtropical forests

  2021cited by this paper
• Effects of stand age on tree biomass partitioning and allometric equations in Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations

  2020cited by this paper
• Relative contributions of competition, stand structure, age, and climate factors to tree mortality of Chinese fir plantations: Long-term spacing trials in southern China

  2020cited by this paper
• Ecosystem service multifunctionality of low‐productivity forests and implications for conservation and management

  2020influential reference
• Response of Bacterial and Fungal Soil Communities to Chinese Fir (Cunninghamia lanceolate) Long-Term Monoculture Plantations

  2020cited by this paper
• Multiple elements of soil biodiversity drive ecosystem functions across biomes

  2020cited by this paper
• Understory vegetation dynamics of Chinese fir plantations and natural secondary forests in subtropical China

  2020cited by this paper
• Tight coupling of fungal community composition with soil quality in a Chinese fir plantation chronosequence

  2020cited by this paper
• Different responses of soil bacterial and fungal communities to nitrogen deposition in a subtropical forest.

  2020cited by this paper
• Tree growth rate and soil nutrient status determine the shift in nutrient-use strategy of Chinese fir plantations along a chronosequence

  2020cited by this paper
• Stand age and climate influence forest ecosystem service delivery and multifunctionality

  2020influential reference
• A closer look at the functions behind ecosystem multifunctionality: A review

  2020cited by this paper
• The response of the soil bacterial community and function to forest succession caused by forest disease

  2020cited by this paper
• Plant diversity and soil stoichiometry regulates the changes in multifunctionality during pine temperate forest secondary succession.

  2019cited by this paper
• Redefining ecosystem multifunctionality

  2018cited by this paper
• Consistent effects of biodiversity loss on multifunctionality across contrasting ecosystems

  2018cited by this paper
• Continental mapping of forest ecosystem functions reveals a high but unrealised potential for forest multifunctionality.

  2017cited by this paper
• Canopy precipitation interception in urban forests in relation to stand structure

  2017cited by this paper
• The Contribution of Litterfall to Net Primary Production During Secondary Succession in the Boreal Forest

  2017cited by this paper
• Soil microbial community structure and catabolic activity are significantly degenerated in successive rotations of Chinese fir plantations

  2017cited by this paper
• Nitrifier‐induced denitrification is an important source of soil nitrous oxide and can be inhibited by a nitrification inhibitor 3,4‐dimethylpyrazole phosphate

  2017cited by this paper
• Influence of long-term successive rotations and stand age of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations on soil properties

  2017cited by this paper
• Microbial diversity drives multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems

  2016cited by this paper
• Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015: how are the world's forests changing?

  2015cited by this paper
• Valuing biodiversity enhancement in New Zealand's planted forests: Socioeconomic and spatial determinants of willingness-to-pay

  2014cited by this paper
• Multifunctionality does not imply that all functions are positively correlated

  2014influential reference
• Evidence that acidification‐induced declines in plant diversity and productivity are mediated by changes in below‐ground communities and soil properties in a semi‐arid steppe

  2013influential reference
• Plant Species Richness and Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Global Drylands

  2012cited by this paper
• Impacts of Biodiversity Loss

  2012cited by this paper
• Impacts of Biodiversity Loss Escalate Through Time as Redundancy Fades

  2012cited by this paper
• Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity

  2012cited by this paper
• Use and misuse of PLFA measurements in soils

  2011cited by this paper
• Plant diversity and the stability of foodwebs.

  2011cited by this paper
• Understory abundance, species diversity and functional attribute response to thinning in coniferous stands

  2010influential reference
• Comparative water use of native and invasive plants at multiple scales: a global meta-analysis.

  2010cited by this paper
• The use of chronosequences in studies of ecological succession and soil development

  2010cited by this paper
• Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality

  2007cited by this paper
• Nutrient cycling and distribution in different-aged plantations of Chinese fir in southern China

  2007influential reference
• Litter production, decomposition and nutrient release in cleared and uncleared pasture systems of central Queensland, Australia

  2006cited by this paper
• The effects of long term nitrogen deposition on extracellular enzyme activity in an Acer saccharum forest soil

  2002cited by this paper
• Measurement of soil microbial biomass C by fumigation-extraction—an automated procedure

  1990cited by this paper

• Forest Ecosystem Multifunctionality: A Systematic Review of Measures and Drivers

  2026cites this paper
• Slope aspect alleviates the response of soil protistan functional structure to the conversion of natural forests to chestnut plantations in subtropical forests

  2026cites this paper
• Effect of soil microbial community on ecosystem multifunctionality in an alpine grassland

  2025cites this paper
• Responses of soil multifunctionality, microbial diversity, and network complexity to tree species mixing in Eucalyptus plantations

  2025cites this paper
• Building Greener Cities Together: Urban Afforestation Requires Multiple Skills to Address Social, Ecological, and Climate Challenges

  2025cites this paper
• Influence of Tree Species Composition on Leaf and Soil Properties and Soil Enzyme Activity in Mixed and Pure Oak (Quercus variabilis) Stands

  2025cites this paper
• Divergent altitudinal patterns of arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in a mid-subtropical mountain ecosystem

  2025influential citation
• Tree functional strategies and soil microbial communities regulate forest ecosystem services

  2025cites this paper
• Stand ages and soil compartments jointly shape ecosystem multifunctionality via changes in bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition

  2025influential citation
• Ancient Walnut Trees in Periurban Areas Reduce Soil Microbial Network Complexity, Function, and Multifunctionality

  2025cites this paper
• Effects of mixed plantations on soil microbial diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality across China: a meta-analysis

  2025cites this paper
• Dynamics of soil bacterial community characteristics, assembly processes and multifunctionality along a poplar plantation chronosequence in northern China

  2025cites this paper
• Biodegradable plastic films as eco‐sustainable alternative to polyethylene films: Effects on soil multifunctionality

  2025cites this paper
• Location-optimized remediation measures for soil multifunctionality and carbon sequestration of saline-alkali land in China

  2025cites this paper
• Plant Diversity and Microbial Community Drive Ecosystem Multifunctionality in Castanopsis hystrix Plantations

  2025influential citation
• Plateau pika interferes with the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality in alpine meadows

  2025cites this paper
• Disentangling the Complex Effects of Seasonal Drought, Floor Mass, and Roots on Soil Microbial Biomass in a Subtropical Moist Forest

  2024cites this paper
• Shrub expansion raises both aboveground and underground multifunctionality on a subtropical plateau grassland: coupling multitrophic community assembly to multifunctionality and functional trade-off

  2024cites this paper
• Microbial diversity drives soil multifunctionality along reclamation chronosequence in an opencast coal mine

  2024cites this paper
• Decoupled response of microbial taxa and functions to nutrients: The role of stoichiometry in plantations.

  2024cites this paper
• Tree species richness improves soil net nitrogen mineralization rates in a young biodiversity-ecosystem function experiment

  2024cites this paper
• Rare rather than abundant taxa of soil bacteria and fungi regulate soil multifunctionality in Eucalyptus plantations

  2024cites this paper
• Spatial variations of the relationships between bacterial diversity and forest ecosystem multifunctionality in the Qinling Mountains, China

  2024cites this paper
• Plant functional traits predict soil multifunctionality under increased precipitation and nitrogen addition in a desert steppe

  2024cites this paper
• Effects of cropland-to-orchard conversion on soil multifunctionality, particularly nitrogen cycling in the eastern Loess Plateau

  2024cites this paper
• Leaf phenology rather than mycorrhizal type regulates soil nematode abundance, but collectively affects nematode diversity in seven common subtropical tree species

  2023cites this paper
• Long-term Consequences on Soil Fungal Community Structure: Monoculture Planting and Natural Regeneration

  2023cites this paper
• Effects of plant diversity, soil microbial diversity, and network complexity on ecosystem multifunctionality in a tropical rainforest

  2023cites this paper
• Interactive response and spatial heterogeneity of alpine grassland biodiversity to soil, topography, climate, and human factors on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau

  2023cites this paper
• Multi‐functional characteristics of artificial forests of Caragana korshinskii Kom with different plantation ages in the hilly and sandy area of Northwest Shanxi, China

  2023cites this paper
• Soil biodiversity in natural forests potentially exhibits higher resistance than planted forests under global warming

  2023cites this paper
• Response of soil properties to C, N, and P stoichiometry of plants in Qilian Mountains, China

  2023cites this paper
• Development of Microbial Indicators in Ecological Systems

  2022cites this paper
• Rhizosphere element circling, multifunctionality, aboveground productivity and trade-offs are better predicted by rhizosphere rare taxa

  2022cites this paper