Data from: Choice of resolution by functional trait or taxonomy affects allometric scaling in soil food webs

Belowground organisms often display a shift in their mass–abundance scaling relationships due to environmental factors such as soil chemistry and atmospheric deposition. Here we present new empirical data that show strong differences in allometric scaling according to whether the resolution at the local scale is based on a taxonomic or a functional classification, whilst only slight differences arise according to soil environmental conditions. For the first time isometry (an inverse 1:1 proportion) is recognized in mass–abundance relationships, providing a functional signal for constant biomass distribution in soil biota regardless of discrete trophic levels. Our findings are in contrast to those from aquatic ecosystems, in that higher trophic levels in soil biota are not a direct function of increasing body mass.地下生物的质量-丰度缩放关系（mass–abundance scaling relationships）常因土壤化学、大气沉降等环境因素发生偏移。本研究提供了全新的实测数据，结果表明：当地尺度的分类依据若采用分类学分类或功能分类，会导致异速缩放（allometric scaling）呈现显著差异；而土壤环境条件仅会引发微弱的差异。本研究首次在质量-丰度缩放关系中确认了等速缩放（isometry，即反1:1比例），该发现为土壤生物群落中恒定的生物量分布提供了功能层面的信号，且不受离散营养级的影响。本研究结论与水生生态系统的相关研究结果相悖：土壤生物群落的高阶营养级并非体重增加的直接函数。