A new study conducted by Rillig and colleagues has revealed that increasing the number of environmental stressors can lead to a decrease in soil ecosystem functioning. While this relationship has been previously observed in laboratory experiments, the study sought to assess this relationship on a global scale outside the laboratory.
The researchers utilized two independent global standardized field surveys to investigate the relationship between the number of environmental stressors exceeding different critical thresholds and the maintenance of multiple ecosystem services across biomes. They considered a range of natural and human factors in their analysis.
The study results indicate that multiple stressors exceeding medium levels (>50%) significantly correlate with negative impacts on ecosystem services. Moreover, having multiple stressors exceeding a high-level critical threshold (over 75% of maximum observed levels) reduced soil biodiversity and functioning globally. The number of environmental stressors that exceeded the >75% threshold was consistently seen as an essential predictor of multiple ecosystem services, improving the prediction of ecosystem functioning.
The study highlights the need to reduce the dimensionality of the human footprint on ecosystems to conserve biodiversity and function. The findings suggest that reducing the number of stressors, particularly those exceeding the >75% threshold, can help preserve ecosystem services and maintain soil biodiversity and functioning. Overall, the study provides important insights into the relationship between environmental stressors and ecosystem functioning, underscoring the importance of protecting our natural environments.
Read the rest of the study here.
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