Piling on the pressures to ecosystems

A multitude of anthropogenic pressures and perturbations now assault the world’s ecosystems. The air is enriched with carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature extremes and droughts happen with increasing frequency, and a wide range of pollutants accumulate in the soil and water, including pesticides, microplastics, and excess fertilizer. What is the overall impact of these changes—so-called global environmental change drivers (or factors)—on ecosystems and their functioning? Although a broad scope of scientific approaches is used, including observational studies and modeling, experiments remain key. On page 886 of this issue Rillig et al. (1) present an exciting new methodological approach to investigate how these multiple pressures affect ecosystems.

By Peter Manning

Nov 15th, 2019

The role of multiple global change factors in driving soil functions and microbial biodiversity

Global environmental change is driven by multiple natural and anthropogenic factors. With a focus on global change as it affects soils, Rillig et al. point out that nearly all published studies consider just one or two factors at a time (see the Perspective by Manning). In a laboratory experiment, they tested 10 drivers of global change both individually and in combination, at levels ranging from 2 to 10 factors. They found that soil properties, processes, and microbial communities could not be predicted from single-effect responses and that multiple factors in combination produced unsuspected responses. They concluded that single-factor studies remain important for uncovering mechanisms but that global change biology needs to embrace more fully the multitude of drivers impinging on ecosystems.

By Matthias C. Rillig, et al.

Nov 15th, 2019