Objective Despite the importance of soil arthropod biodiversity for ecosystem functioning, our knowledge is extremely poor, and at the community level almost non-existent. The problem has been one of scale and logistics due to the tremendous but cryptic diversity of soil arthropods. Assigning individuals to species is unfeasibly slow using traditional approaches, and morphology itself is increasingly recognized as insufficiently variable to describe species boundaries. However, recent advances provide a tool to bridge this knowledge gap. SOILBIODIV applies novel HTS to develop new pipelines within a multidisciplinary project for the molecular characterization of soil arthropod communities. In so doing it will provide much needed molecular tools and permanent resources to quantify and monitor soil biodiversity over geographic scales relevant for both theoretical and applied soil science. In parallel SOILBIODIV will establish a milestone in our understanding of soil biodiversity structure at the landscape scale. This will be achieved by implementing the pipeline within an oceanic island setting that provides strong natural gradients of aridity and temperature to estimate: (i) soil arthropod mesofauna richness; (ii) community structure; and (iii) turnover within and among ecosystems and islands. Data generated will be used to: (i) identify introduced species and associated biodiversity risks and (ii) to evaluate the magnitude and distribution of risks for soil biodiversity under climate change by modeling biodiversity patterns in future climate scenarios and estimating the potential biodiversity loss. Thus SOILBIODIV will address European-level research priorities by assessing the vulnerabilities of soil biodiversity to global change within a European biodiversity hotspot. The complementary research profiles of the ER and HR, and their mutual interest in applying molecular tools to quantify community level biodiversity at the landscape scale, underpin the strength of SOILBIODIV. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologylandscape ecologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyinvasive speciesnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changesnatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoology Keywords Soil Biodiversity High Througput Sequencing Metabarcoding Metagenomics Genome skimming Climate Change vulnerability Invasive Species Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2015-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2015 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS Net EU contribution € 158 121,60 Address CALLE SERRANO 117 28006 Madrid Spain See on map Region Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 158 121,60