Investigations led by researchers of the Institute for Soil Sciences, the biological soil quality was assessed and compared in woody (REF: reference forest, REM: remnant forest) and nonwoody (TURF: public turfgrass, and RUD: ruderal habitat) types of urban green spaces along a disturbance and management intensity gradient in the Budapest metropolitan area (Hungary), using community metrics and soil arthropod-based indicators. The taxonomic diversity of soil arthropod assemblages in nonwoody and woody habitats was similar. Although the integrated faunal indices showed no differences among soil habitat types, they provided different responses and, consequently, different information. Our findings demonstrated that the biological quality and arthropod community structure of soils were strongly impacted by soil C/N and heavy metal contamination.
We found that low and moderate levels of pollution have adverse effects on edaphic fauna, suggesting biological degradation of soils, even below pollution limits. Nevertheless, more disturbed urban green spaces have been shown to play a significant role in maintaining belowground biodiversity, thereby soil functions.

The research has been published in Ecological Applications (D1, IF: 5.0):
Tóth Zs, Dombos M, Hornung E. Urban soil quality deteriorates even with low heavy metal levels: An arthropod-based multi-indices approach, https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2848