Planting food forests can increase soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes of Northwest Europe
Isabelle van der Zanden, Lieke Moereels, Stephanie Schelfhout, Pallieter De Smedt, Koen Lock, Wouter Dekoninck, G.W. Korthals, Wim H. van der Putten, Kris Verheyen, G. F. Veen
npj Biodiversity
Urban Farm DB summary
Communities of 12 taxonomic groups of soil organisms were compared between 15 food forests and nearby grasslands, croplands and forests in Northwest Europe. Food forest soil communities differed from grassland and cropland communities and more closely resembled forest communities in biomass and number of individuals for most taxonomic groups, with especially higher numbers of macroarthropods. In composition, food forest communities were overall intermediate between grassland/cropland and forest for most groups, but microorganismal and microfaunal groups more closely resembled grassland and cropland communities than forest communities. Alpha-diversity was higher for non-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and certain macroarthropod groups in food forests, though overall differences in alpha- and beta-diversity were limited. Planting food forests was concluded to be able to increase soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.