Contrasting relationships between native plant community types and soil biota across a degradation gradient in the Sydney Basin Bioregion

Peri-urban native plant communities are threatened by anthropogenic pressures, including weed invasion, pests, and diversity loss, that can result in serious ecosystem degradation. This can then result in cascading impacts on soil communities and their processes due to the linkages between belowground and aboveground communities. However, very little is known about how degradation influence soil biota in peri-urban native plant communities and their potential implications for functioning. This study investigated the influence of degradation on soil communities and nutrient availability of three threatened plant community types with different nutrient availabilities (Cumberland Plain Woodland, Castlereagh Scribbly Gum Woodland, Blue Gum High Forest) in the Sydney Basin Bioregion.