Data from: Wildfire strengthens the relationship between soil biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical forests

Wildfires are disrupting and regenerating forces in nature that affect all
ecosystem components. However, the impact of wildfires on soil
multitrophic biodiversity and the resulting consequences for ecosystem
multifunctionality (EMF) remain poorly understood. In this study, we
sampled fire chronosequences (1-, 5-, 9-, and 27-year) from burned and
unburned plots in subtropical Pinus yunnanensis forests to determine the
soil biodiversity of a wide range of taxonomic groups (bacteria, fungi,
protists, and nematodes), together with an extensive array of 38 ecosystem
functions related to microbial activity, organic matter decomposition and
mineralization, and nutrient cycling. The responses of soil
biodiversity and EMF varied with soil depth and time since fire. In the
surface layer (0–10 cm), a general pattern emerged in all taxonomic
groups, with initial declines in soil biodiversity compared with the
unburned plots, but the greatest losses occurred only at 5 years post-fire
and reversed to positive in the long term. Ecosystem multifunctionality
broadly followed this pattern, but the loss of EMF occurred earlier and
lasted longer, indicating a lower resistance of EMF than of its supporting
biodiversity. Biodiversity responses in the subsurface layer were
generally weaker after an initial strong transient enhancement at 1 year.
Notably, we found that regardless of the taxonomic group, fire
systematically strengthened the relationship between soil biodiversity and
EMF, thus promoting post-fire regeneration of EMF. This study sheds new
light on the importance of biodiversity in the functioning of ecosystems
in an era in which wildfire regimes are altered by global climate change.