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Tree pathogens threaten the survival of many forest foundation tree species worldwide. However, there is limited knowledge of how dieback of foundation tree species may threaten other components of forest ecosystems, such as soil biodiversity and associated ecosystem functions. Kauri (Agathis australis), threatened by the root-borne pathogen Phytophthora agathidicida, are culturally and ecologically significant tree species that exert great influence on soil properties. We aimed to characterise soil mesofauna community structure and energy fluxes in kauri forests and assess the potential threat that tree pathogens such as P. agathidicida pose to belowground ecosystems. We sampled soil mesofauna communities and identified specimens to functional feeding groups at 24 pairs of kauri and adjacent broadleaf trees in sites across the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, Aotearoa -- New Zealand. We attributed kauri canopy health scores, measured tree diameter, slope, forest floor depth, and soil carbon dioxide efflux. We also analysed soil samples for P. agathidicida presence, total carbon, and total nitrogen. We constructed soil mesofauna food webs associated with kauri and broadleaf trees, and assessed the uniqueness of food webs associated with kauri and the impacts of P. agathidicida on density, biomass, mean body mass, and energy fluxes of mesofauna taxonomic and trophic groups. We found omnivores with larger body mass at kauri where P. agathidicida was detected (i.e., P. agathidicida-positive soils). Compared to broadleaf trees, mesofauna density and biomass were lower in soils under kauri, and body masses of Symphyla and omnivores were smaller in soils under kauri. Differences in mesofauna community response variables between tree types were mainly modulated by the soil C:N ratio, which had positive effects under broadleaf and neutral to negative effects under kauri. Energy fluxes to detritivores and fungivores were greater under larger trees, regardless of tree type or P. agathidicida detection status. Our findings suggest that kauri support soil mesofauna food webs that are distinctly different from those found under broadleaf trees in the same habitat. A decreased presence of this foundation species may be linked to future impacts on soil mesofauna in this forest ecosystem with increasingly advanced stages of kauri dieback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Many ecosystems are gaining some species and losing others, leading to large shifts in community composition. Plants that support nitrogen ( N)-fixing symbionts (hereafter N-fixers) are major ecosystem drivers but human-induced environmental changes can lead to their loss; the impacts of this loss have seldom been studied. In New Zealand, the gain of some invasive herbivorous mammals leads to the loss of N-fixing shrubs that are pioneers during primary succession. 2. We studied primary successional surfaces caused by river floods and landslides in a remote valley in New Zealand's South Island. We set up and maintained a removal experiment over 10 years, with N-fixing Carmichaelia odorata (hereafter Carmichaelia) either left intact or removed to represent the effects that invasive herbivorous mammals could cause under high densities. 3. Above-ground effects of 10 years of Carmichaelia removal included a 7-fold reduction of woody plant biomass, but had no effect on the shorter non-woody vegetation. Foliar N concentrations of two woody species were also reduced. Carmichaelia removal reduced local or α-diversity but enhanced β-diversity of the remaining vegetation at the functional group but not the species level. 4. Below-ground effects of 10 years of Carmichaelia removal included large reductions in soil carbon ( C) and N levels, and biomass or abundance of several groups of soil biota occupying three consumer trophic levels as well as the root-, bacterial- and fungal-based energy channels. Invertebrate bacterial consumers were more adversely affected than were fungal consumers. Carmichaelia loss reduced α-diversity of some below-ground groups, while β-diversity was unresponsive or enhanced. 5. Synthesis. Our results reveal that loss of a single functionally distinct plant species, such as occurs through herbivore invasion, can cause substantial effects both above-ground and below-ground. This may affect the trajectory of the ecosystem over successional time, especially in primary seres that otherwise have very low soil carbon ( C) and nitrogen ( N) reservoirs. More generally, our results support the view that the simultaneous gains of some organisms (e.g. invasive herbivorous mammals) and resultant losses of others (e.g. palatable N-fixing plants) are a major element of human-induced global change that may be transforming many communities and ecosystems world-wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]