Ecosystem and biogeochemical coupling in terrestrial ecosystems under global change: A roadmap for synthesis and call for data

• Main Authors: Raúl Ochoa-Hueso, Anita C. Risch, Scott L. Collins, Nico Eisenhauer, Wim H. van der Putten
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung 2020-05-01
• Series: Soil Organisms
• Subjects: call for collaboration
• Online Access: http://www.soil-organisms.org/index.php/SO/article/view/121
• ISSN: 1864-6417; 2509-9523

Coupled ecosystems may offer a wider array of highly valuable ecosystem services. However, empirical evidence supporting the role of ecosystem coupling for the functioning of ecosystems and the mechanisms driving the coupling-functioning relationship is scarce. Moreover, global environmental change may decouple ecological interactions and biogeochemical cycles well before an overall degradation of ecosystems can be detected, yet the functional implications of this decoupling remains unresolved. Here, we introduce a collaborative call to carry out a synthesis of previously conducted experimental studies to evaluate how global change affects ecosystem and biogeochemical coupling and their relationships with ecosystem functioning. For this, we seek to collate existing biotic, abiotic and ecosystem function data from field experiments carried out across the globe. We anticipate that this new collaborative global synthesis will help us gain novel scientific insights that would be out of reach for individual research groups. It will also allow for the initiation of a meaningful dialogue between experimental ecologists and a wide range of stakeholders and end users aimed at preserving and enhancing ecosystem functioning through strengthening ecosystem and biogeochemical coupling.