Soil nutrient limitation controls trophic cascade effects of micro-food web-derived ecological functions in degraded agroecosystems

Haobo Xu; Xinxing He; Juan Chen; Xiaozhou Huang; Yazhen Chen; Yichen Xu; Yu Xiao; Tao Liu; Hanjie He; Yingping Wang; Xiaodong Yang; Leilei Shi; Hongzhi Zhang; Wende Yan

doi:10.1016/j.jare.2025.01.018

Soil nutrient limitation controls trophic cascade effects of micro-food web-derived ecological functions in degraded agroecosystems

J Adv Res. 2025 Jan 12:S2090-1232(25)00037-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jare.2025.01.018. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Haobo Xu¹, Xinxing He², Juan Chen¹, Xiaozhou Huang¹, Yazhen Chen¹, Yichen Xu¹, Yu Xiao¹, Tao Liu³, Hanjie He³, Yingping Wang⁴, Xiaodong Yang⁵, Leilei Shi⁶, Hongzhi Zhang⁶, Wende Yan⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha 410004, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Changsha 410004, China; Yuelushan Laboratory, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha 410004, China.
² College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha 410004, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Changsha 410004, China. Electronic address: t20212595@csuft.edu.cn.
³ College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha 410004, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Changsha 410004, China.
⁴ Department of Oceans and Atmosphere, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Aspendale, VIC, Australia.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Yunnan, China.
⁶ Faculty of Geographical Science and Engineering, Henan University, Zhengzhou 450046, China.
⁷ College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Central South University of Forestry & Technology, Changsha 410004, China; National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Changsha 410004, China. Electronic address: csfuywd@hotmail.com.

PMID: 39809362
DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2025.01.018

Abstract

Introduction: Soil nutrient supply drives the ecological functions of soil micro-food webs through bottom-up and top-down mechanisms in degraded agroecosystems. Nutrient limitation responds sensitively to variations in degraded agroecosystems through restoration practices, such as legume intercropping.

Objectives: This study examined the effects of legume intercropping on trophic cascade dynamics through resource supply in degraded purple soil ecosystems.

Methods: A field experiment was conducted with three plantation types: Camellia oleifera monoculture (CK), C. oleifera-Arachis hypogaea (peanut) intercropping (CP), and C. oleifera-Senna tora intercropping (CS). Using soil nutrient limitation as a premise, modified by legume intercropping, we assessed the biodiversity of soil biotic taxa, analysed their community composition, and applied partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) to link trophic cascade with ecological functions.

Results: Legume intercropping altered the abundance of biotic taxa, leading to changes in biotic diversity and microbial life strategies. The PLS-PM results indicated that legume intercropping enhanced bacterial diversity by aggravating soil P limitation, which subsequently increased protist consumer diversity and omnivore-predator nematode abundance through a bottom-up effect. Omnivore-predator nematodes and protist consumers indirectly influenced soil P metabolism, down-regulated through bacteria in the top-down effect. We observed high consistency between the untargeted metabolomic analysis and soil nutrient limitations. These findings indicate that soil micro-food web structure and function responded sensitively to legume intercropping in degraded ecosystems.

Conclusion: The results highlight the role of soil nutrient limitation in shaping micro-food webs and suggest that soil P limitation controls the down-regulation of soil P-related ecological functions through bottom-up and top-down effects.

Keywords: Ecological functions; Nutrients limitation; Purple soils; Soil micro-food web; Trophic cascade effects.