Soil Biodiversity uncovered

Soil biodiversity is the richest biotic resource on Earth. However, we only now start to have the tools to perform integrated studies of all components of this vast diversity. In this talk, we will give an overview of the diversity and role of key groups of soil biota, including viruses, bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, and fauna. We will highlight method combinations that provide a better knowledge of ecological processes in soils. Therewith, we will introduce the talks within this session that applied such methods for in depth studies of the diversity, functions, interactions of soil biota, and their spatial and temporal variation. Both alpha and beta diversity will be impacted by land management (Maarten Schrama). This is at least partly due to complex interactions between vegetation and soil organisms (plant-soil feedbacks), as soil biota may govern plant performance (S. Emilia Hannula and Dina in 't Zandt). Given such complex interactions, making links between components of the soil diversity more explicit by visualizing co-occurence patterns will be needed to better understand ecosystem functions (Basten L. Snoek). Last, soil biodiversity is shown to represent a key resource to study and test ecological theories which is so far underused (Madhav P. Thakur)