中山大学储诚进研究小组在研究中取得进展。他们的研究开发出了土壤无脊椎动物对生态系统功能的全球工程效应。相关论文于2025年2月12日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》杂志上。

通过对来自六大洲1047项研究的12975项观测数据进行荟萃分析，该课题组人员发现与对照土壤相比，这三个类群都增加了土壤宏量养分含量、土壤呼吸以及土壤微生物和植物生物量。白蚁对土壤呼吸和植物生物量的影响以及蚯蚓对土壤氮、磷含量的影响随年平均气温的增加而增加，并在热带地区达到峰值。相反，蚂蚁对土壤氮、磷、植物生物量和存活率的影响在初级生产力最低的中纬度生态系统中最大。值得注意的是，白蚁和蚂蚁分别通过缓解热带地区的植物磷限制和温带地区的植物氮限制来促进植物生长。

他们的研究强调了这些无脊椎动物类群在全球生物地球化学循环和生态系统功能中的重要作用。鉴于这些土壤工程无脊椎动物的重要性，生物地球化学模型应该更好地整合它们的影响，特别是对碳通量和营养循环的影响。

据了解，白蚁、蚂蚁和蚯蚓产生的生物成因结构在全球生态系统中发挥着关键作用。然而，对于这些微小但重要的无脊椎动物在全球范围内引发的土壤工程效应的驱动因素，人们知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Global engineering effects of soil invertebrates on ecosystem functions

Author: Wu, Donghao, Du, Enzai, Eisenhauer, Nico, Mathieu, Jrome, Chu, Chengjin

Issue&Volume: 2025-02-12

Abstract: The biogenic structures produced by termites, ants and earthworms provide key functions across global ecosystems1,2. However, little is known about the drivers of the soil engineering effects caused by these small but important invertebrates3 at the global scale. Here we show, on the basis of a meta-analysis of 12,975 observations from 1,047 studies on six continents, that all three taxa increase soil macronutrient content, soil respiration and soil microbial and plant biomass compared with reference soils. The effect of termites on soil respiration and plant biomass, and the effect of earthworms on soil nitrogen and phosphorus content, increase with mean annual temperature and peak in the tropics. By contrast, the effects of ants on soil nitrogen, soil phosphorus, plant biomass and survival rate peak at mid-latitude ecosystems that have the lowest primary productivity. Notably, termites and ants increase plant growth by alleviating plant phosphorus limitation in the tropics and nitrogen limitation in temperate regions, respectively. Our study highlights the important roles of these invertebrate taxa in global biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem functions. Given the importance of these soil-engineering invertebrates, biogeochemical models should better integrate their effects, especially on carbon fluxes and nutrient cycles.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08594-y

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08594-y