Search Results (36)

Soil fauna is integral to facilitating material cycles, energy flows, and the conservation of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the impacts of forest development on the compositions and structures of soil invertebrates remain uncertain. Here, we assessed the dynamics in abundance and diversity of soil invertebrates across eight successional age stages of Metasequoia glyptostroboides tree plantations (7-, 16-, 21-, 26-, 31-, 36-, 41-, 46-year-old stands) in a reclaimed coastal land in China. We used pitfall traps to collect soil invertebrates and analyzed key soil and litter properties to understand their relationships with the faunal communities. The results revealed that the total abundance of soil invertebrates initially decreased during the young to near-mature stand period (7- to 31-year-old stands), whereas it increased along the age series, from the near-mature to overmature stand period (31- to 46-year-old stands). Specifically, the dynamics showed a U-shaped curve with stand development. Further, there was a significantly negative correlation between the Shannon–Wiener diversity index and the total abundance of soil invertebrates across this plantation chronosequence. The variations in abundance of detritivores were consistent with the total abundance of soil invertebrates during stand development. The abundance and diversity of the soil invertebrates were strongly correlated with the soil environment (e.g., soil organic carbon, litter biomass, and microbial biomass nitrogen). These findings highlight that the compositions and structures of soil invertebrates were significantly altered with M. glyptostroboides stand development. Thus, the management of plantations should consider the abundance and diversity of soil invertebrates and functional groups for improving soil structure and fertility. This provides important insights for studying the interconnection of above- and below-ground plantation ecosystems toward their optimal management. Full article

Forest litter can decompose faster at home sites than at guest sites (home-field advantage, HFA), yet few studies have focused on the response of the HFA of native plant decomposition to the presence of invasive plants. We loaded the dry leaves of native Neosinocalamus affinis (decomposition resistant) and Ficus virens (more easily decomposable) leaves into litterbags with and without invasive Alternanthera philoxeroides, and incubated these litterbags at N. affinis and F. virens sites at the edge of the forest. The results showed that positive HFA effects with litter mass loss were at least 1.32% faster at home sites than at guest sites. The addition of A. philoxeroides reduced the mean HFA of N. affinis litter and increased that of F. virens litter. The HFA index without A. philoxeroides was significantly higher than that with A. philoxeroides. Soil faunal abundance colonized at home sites was always higher than that colonized at guest sites. Compared with the F. virens site, the abundance of Collembola, Arachnida, Formicidae and Lepismatidae at the N. affinis site was significantly higher compared to the F. virens site, while the abundance of Isopoda, Oligochaeta, Nematoda and Dermaptera was significantly lower. Our results indicate that invasive plants may regulate HFA effects by promoting the decomposition of native plants and increasing fauna abundance. Particularly, soil fauna groups play a very important role in this process. Our findings help us to re-understand the role of invasive plants in material cycling and energy flow in the context of achieving carbon neutrality goals. Full article

The West Sahel is facing significant threats to its vegetation and wildlife due to the land degradation and habitat fragmentation. It is crucial to assess the regional vegetation greenness dynamics in order to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of protection in the natural reserves. This study analyzes the vegetation greenness trends and the driving factors in the Dosso Partial Faunal Reserve in Niger and nearby unprotected regions—one of the most important habitats for endemic African fauna—using satellite time series data from 2001 to 2020. An overall vegetation browning trend was observed throughout the entire region with significant spatial variability. Vegetation browning dominated in the Dosso Reserve with 17.7% of the area showing a significant trend, while the area with significant greening was 6.8%. In a comparison, the nearby unprotected regions to the north and the east were found to be dominated by vegetation browning and greening, respectively. These results suggest that the vegetation protection practice was not fully effective throughout the Dosso Reserve. The dominant drivers were also diagnosed using the Random Forest model-based method and the Partial Dependence Plot tool, showing that water availability (expressed as soil moisture) and land use/land cover change were the most critical factors affecting vegetation greenness in the study region. Specifically, soil moisture stress and specific land management practices associated with logging, grazing, and land clearing appeared to dominate vegetation browning in the Dosso Reserve. In contrast, the vegetation greening in the central Dosso Reserve and the nearby unprotected region to the east was probably caused by the increase in shrubland/forest, which was related to the effective implementation of protection. These findings improve our understanding of how regional vegetation greenness dynamics respond to environmental changes in the Dosso Reserve and also highlight the need for more effective conservation planning and implementation to ensure sustainable socio-ecological development in the West Sahel. Full article

This study sought to investigate the vertical distribution pattern of the soil faunal community in a low-altitude mountain area. On 8 July 2022, a low hill was selected as the study area, and soil arthropods were collected through traps. The leaf litter, vegetation type, and distribution quantity of each sampling site were investigated while the soil faunae were collected. In addition, the soil’s physical and chemical parameters were measured. The results of a one-way ANOVA showed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the soil properties, leaf litter, and plant quantities at different altitudes within the research area. A total of 1086 soil arthropods, belonging to five classes and ten orders, were collected during the study period. The dominant species of soil arthropods at different altitudes were significantly different. The dominant species in low-altitude areas were Armadillidium sp. and Aethus nigritus. However, Eupolyphaga sinensis and Philodromidae were the dominant species in high-altitude areas. The results of a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis showed that the soil faunae at different altitudes were clustered into two communities: a high-altitude community and a low-altitude community. With the increase in altitude, the species richness of the soil arthropods gradually decreased, and their abundance showed a decreasing trend. A redundancy analysis (RDA) of the soil arthropods and environmental factors showed that soil moisture (p < 0.01), pH (p < 0.01) and defoliation (p < 0.05) had significant effects on the distribution of the soil fauna. The results of a Pearson correlation analysis indicated that different environmental factors had interactive effects on the distribution of the soil arthropods. The quantity and species richness of the soil arthropods in different sample lines were tested using a variance analysis. The results showed that there were significantly smaller quantities of soil arthropods in the sampling line closer to the trekking ladder. This indicates that human tourism, namely mountaineering activities, had a direct impact on the soil fauna. This study can provide a reference for and data support in the development of biodiversity conservation measures for forest parks in low mountain areas. Full article

The implementation of the Grain for Green Project has increased vegetation coverage and provided suitable habitats and food resources for soil fauna, thereby promoting the development of soil faunal communities. Studying seasonal variations in soil fauna communities in different vegetation areas can improve our understanding of the mechanisms that drive soil fauna recovery. We selected five typical artificially restored vegetation habitats, including Populus simonii (POS), Pinus tabulaeformis (PIT), Caragana korshinskii (CAK), Stipa bungeana (STB), and Medicago sativa (MES), and one farmland (Zea mays, FAL) habitat on the Loess Plateau. In this study, soil fauna communities and environmental factors were investigated during spring (May), summer (August), and autumn (November). Among the habitats, the STB habitat had the largest seasonal variation in soil faunal density (from 1173 ind·m⁻² in May to 10,743 ind·m⁻² in August), and the FAL habitat had the smallest (from 2827 ind·m⁻² in August to 5550 ind·m⁻² in November). Among the restored vegetation habitats, Acarina (44.89–88.56%) had the highest relative abundance of all taxa. The redundancy analysis (RDA) results showed that among the factors driving seasonal variation in soil animal communities, temperature (47.41%) was the most important, followed by precipitation (22.60%). In addition, the dominant groups, Acarina and Collembola, played an influential role in seasonal variations in soil faunal density. Temperature mainly determined the seasonal variations in soil faunal communities. Seasonal factors should be considered when conducting soil fauna research, as they contribute to biodiversity conservation and regional ecological management in the Loess Plateau. Full article

Soil fauna play a vital role in contributing to the home-field advantage (HFA: litter decomposes faster in its natural habitat than elsewhere) during litter decomposition. Whether the presence of soil fauna affects the HFA of the decomposition of total phenols and condensed tannins, which are important components of litter, has rarely been investigated. In this study, litterbags with different mesh sizes were transplanted reciprocally, 0.04 mm (basically excluding soil fauna) and 3 mm (basically allowing all soil fauna to enter), in Lindera megaphylla and Cryptomeria fortunei forests. The results illustrated that the loss rates of total phenols and condensed tannins reached 64.07% to 84.49% and 69.67% to 88.37%, respectively, after 2 months of decomposition. Moreover, soil fauna positively contributed to the decomposition of condensed tannins in high-quality litter. After 2 months of decomposition, a significantly positive HFA (HFA index: 10.32) was found for total phenol decomposition in the coarse mesh, while a significantly negative HFA (HFA index: −1.81) was observed for condensed tannin decomposition in the fine mesh after 10 months of decomposition. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activities were significantly influenced by litter types. The loss rates of total phenols and condensed tannins were significantly negatively correlated with the initial N content, P content, N/P ratio, and POD activity and were positively related to the initial C content, total phenol content, condensed tannin content, C/P ratio, and C/N ratio. Only the loss of condensed tannins was negatively correlated with PPO activity (after 2 months’ decomposition). However, none of these correlations were observed after 10 months of decomposition. Our study illustrated that (1) soil fauna contributed to the decomposition of total phenols and condensed tannins but were influenced by litter type for condensed tannins. (2) The soil fauna had inconsistent effects on the HFA of total phenols and condensed tannins, possibly due to the combined regulatory effects of environmental context, litter quality, and rapid decomposition rates. In sum, the results indicated that soil fauna played an important role in the decomposition of condensed tannins and total phenols in litter, and additional studies on the effects of soil faunal abundance and class on HFA of condensed tannins and total phenols are needed. Full article

Soil organisms are the biological drivers of processes and functions that maintain soil properties and ecosystem services. Soil fauna contribute to nutrient turnover, decomposition and other important biogeochemical processes. This investigation assessed the diversity and abundance of soil arthropods (0.1–4 mm) along a chronosequence of land use types covering a relatively small geographical distance but with the same underlying soil type and climatic conditions. The compared habitats and the approximate ages since anthropogenic disturbance were ancient woodland (>200 y), old woodland (<200 y), unimproved semi-natural grassland (>50 y), willow/poplar coppice (>30 y), unimproved permanent pasture (<20 y), improved permanent pasture (<10 y), and recently grazed and reseeded grassland (>2 y), and the soil types of all habitats were the same within a 5 km radius. Land use type and age since anthropogenic disturbance significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the community composition of soil fauna, with richer arthropod communities found in woodlands compared with recently managed grassland. This study has confirmed a significant effect of land use type and age since disturbance on soil faunal diversity and community structure. Full article

The techniques of agriculture and animal husbandry at Tell Humeida, a Middle Uruk Period (Late Chalcolithic) site on the middle Syrian Euphrates, were studied using stable isotopes of bone collagen of domestic and wild mammals and from cereal and ruderal plant seeds. Two archaeological campaigns in 2009 and 2011 yielded a small collection of bones, most of which were taxonomically indeterminable. The work had to be interrupted due to the political conflict. The faunal study comprised collagen peptide fingerprinting for taxonomic identification, followed by isotopic analysis. Multiple ¹⁴C dating were performed to date the infill to around 3600 cal BC. An isotopic analysis of the sparse plant remains suggested that irrigation and manuring were common practices. Sheep and equids predominated in the faunal assemblage. Sheep grazed on manured soils, and their diet could include millet or another C4 plant, of which, however, no carpological remains were found. The diet of equids differed from that of sheep but also that of other wild ungulates (cervids/gazelles). Their isotopic signatures indicated that they grazed in humid areas, near the watercourse. These finds indicated a settlement that was closely linked to the availability of water, which made it possible to grow crops in an almost desert-like area, and the rearing of sheep. Full article

The soil food web is essential for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. The application of naphthalene is a commonly employed experimental treatment for expelling soil fauna to examine faunal effects on litter decomposition processes, for which is it assumed that naphthalene has negligible effects on soil microbial communities. An experiment was conducted to examine the potential soil-fauna-repellent effect of naphthalene application (100 g/m²/month, TR) on a soil fungal community during litter decomposition. The results showed that TR greatly suppressed the abundance and taxonomic richness of soil fauna by 83.7 ± 14.2% and 48.1 ± 17.2%, respectively, and reduced the rates of poplar leaf litter decomposition compared to the control (CK, without naphthalene treatment). Among the fungal communities, the abundance of Thelephorales in the TR soil was suppressed, while the abundance of Capnodiales was stimulated, although TR did not significantly alter the carbon and nitrogen content in the soil microbial biomass nor the diversity of soil fungal communities and the most abundant fungal phylum. Thus, both the suppressed soil arthropod abundance and altered soil fungal community might contribute to the observed slowdown in litter decomposition. These results suggest that naphthalene, as a soil fauna repellent, can alter the abundance of specific taxa in a soil fungal community, thereby impeding the effort to elucidate the contribution of soil fauna to ecosystem functioning (e.g., with respect to litter decomposition). Full article

Soil faunal communities play key roles in maintaining soil nutrient cycling. Affected by different land-use types, soil environment and soil faunal communities change significantly. However, few studies have focused on the aforementioned observations in coastal zones, which provide suitable habitats for many species of concern. Here, we investigated the changes in soil mesofaunal communities under different land-use types, including cotton fields, jujube trees, ash trees, a saline meadow, and wetlands. The variations in land-use types affected the community composition and diversity of soil mesofauna in the coastal zones. The taxa of soil mesofauna had different responses to land-use types in the coastal zones. Isotomidae was regarded as an indicator taxon of the coastal cropland regions. Entomobryidae was considered to be an indicator taxon of coastal artificial trees. Meanwhile, Onychiuridae and three taxa (Brachycera, Armadillidiidae, and Gammaridae) were indicator taxa of the coastal terrestrial ecosystem and the coastal wetland ecosystem, respectively. Thus, we suggested that specific soil mesofaunal taxa were considered to be appropriate bioindicators for land-use types in the coastal zones. The results of this study were helpful to develop guidelines for coastal biodiversity and ecosystem conservation in the future. Full article

Globally, wildfires and prescribed fires are becoming more prevalent and are known to affect plant and animals in diverse ecosystems. Understanding the responses of animal communities to fire is a central issue in conservation and a panacea to predicting how fire regimes may affect communities and food webs. Here, a global meta-analysis of 2581 observations extracted from 208 empirical studies were used to investigate the effect of fire on aboveground and belowground fauna (e.g., bacteria, fungi, small mammals, arthropods). Overall, results revealed that fire had a negative effect on biomass, abundance, richness, evenness, and diversity of all faunas. Similarly, when considering wildfires and prescribed fires the data revealed that both fire regimes have negative effects on fauna. Similarly, fire had negative impacts on aboveground and aboveground fauna across most biomes and continents of the world. Moreover, there was little evidence of changes in pH, moisture and soil depth on soil organisms suggesting that other factors may drive community changes following a fire disturbance. Future research in fire ecology should consider the effects of fire across several species and across larger geospatial scales. In addition, fire effects on faunal community structure must be studied under contrasting global fire regimes and in light of the effects of climate change. Full article

A model of rhizosphere priming effect under impact of root exudate input into rhizosphere soil was developed as an important process of the plant-soil interaction. The model was based on the concept of nitrogen (N) mining, compensating for the N scarcity in exudates for microbial growth by accelerating SOM mineralisation. In the model, N deficiency for microbial growth is covered (“mined”) by the increased SOM mineralisation depending on the C:N ratio of the soil and exudates. The new aspect in the model is a food web procedure, which calculates soil fauna feeding on microorganisms, the return of faunal by-products to SOM and mineral N production for root uptake. The model verification demonstrated similar magnitude of the priming effect in simulations as in the published experimental data. Model testing revealed high sensitivity of the simulation results to N content in exudates. Simulated CO₂ emission from the priming can reach 10–40% of CO₂ emission from the whole Ah horizon of boreal forest soil depending on root exudation rates. This modeling approach with including food web activity allows quantifying wider aspects of the priming effect functioning including ecologically important available N production. Full article

Soil micro-food webs play an essential role in maintaining or improving the stability of agricultural soils, and they can be influenced by tillage. However, little is known with respect to soil microbial and faunal communities and their relationships shaped by long-term tillage practices. The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of 38 years of no-tillage (NT), subsoil tillage (ST), moldboard plow tillage (MP), and rotary and ridge tillage (CT) practices on soil microbial and faunal communities, and their relationships with soil properties using high-throughput sequencing technology and structural equation modeling (SEM) at 2 soil depths (0–20 cm and 20–40 cm). The results indicate that, after the 38-year (1983–2020) period, the bacterial, fungal, protozoan, and metazoan gene copy numbers under the NT treatment at 0–20 cm were 1.31–6.13 times higher than those under the other treatments. Conversely, the microbial and protozoan alpha diversities were reduced under the NT treatment compared with the CT treatment. However, MP significantly increased microbial and faunal gene copy numbers at 20–40 cm. Moreover, the bacterial community composition remarkably varied relative to the community composition of the fungi and fauna in response to the tillage practices and soil depths. Additionally, the highest and lowest average connectivities of the soil micro-food web networks were observed under the ST and MP treatments, respectively. The SEM demonstrated that tillage practices and soil depths explained 73–98% of the microbial and faunal abundances, diversities, and compositions. Additionally, tillage and depth demonstrated direct quantitative effects and indirect quantitative effects by altering the soil mean weight diameter of aggregates, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen. Overall, subsoil tillage is recommended as the optimal practice for application in northeast China, and it could improve soil properties and aid in forming a more complex soil micro-food web structure. Full article

Serious soil degradation due to human intervention in subtropical China has resulted in a series of ecological problems. Soil fauna is an important part of forest soil ecosystems and plays a vital role in the maintenance of soil quality and can sensitively reflect the soil disturbances caused by human activities. This study assessed the long-term effects of reforestation on the soil fauna community and underground food web. Soil fauna was sampled from plots in a 30-year reforestation positioning test site. Six reforestation models (the pure Schima superba (Ss) forest, pure Liquidambar formosana (Lf) forest, pure Pinus massoniana (Pm) forest, mixed forest of Lf & Ss, mixed forest of Pm & Ss, and the mixed forest of Lf & Pm) were chosen in Taihe County, southern China. The results found that the mixed vegetation restoration of Lf & Pm significantly improved the soil fauna abundance and biomass when compared with other reforestation models in the degraded red soil region. Acari and Collembola accounted for 65.8% and 23.3%, respectively, of the total soil fauna abundance in the region. The mixed forest of Lf & Pm had a positive effect on the abundance of secondary decomposers and micro predators in Acari. Moreover, a significant increase in the abundance of Collembola was found in the Lf & Pm stand type. The stand type with the highest soil faunal population also had a higher soil fauna biomass. Therefore, reforestation in a degraded red soil area had positive effects on the soil fauna community. Full article

The short-term effects of soil amendments on the structure, diversity and function of a nematode community of Miscanthus × giganteus was investigated. Crop was cultivated on marginal, nutrient-poor land amended with biochar in single and double doses (BD1 and BD2), biogas digestate (D), sewage sludge (SS), and hemicellulose waste (HW). Sampling was done after planting, in the middle and end of vegetation; morphology-based approach was used. 28 nematode taxa were identified, including 5 bacterivores genera, 4 fungivores genera, 5 herbivores genera (11 species), 2 omnivores genera, 5 predators genera. The general linear models, correspondence analysis and clustering were applied for evaluation. The total abundance of nematode taxa Filenchus, Dorylaimus, Cephalobus, Panagrolaimus, Aphelenchus, and Ditylenchus was depended on the sampling time and amendments. The incorporation of amendments affected nematode food web and resulted in suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs). It was revealed that community structure was more mature for SS, less stable for D and had inconclusive effects for BD1, BD2, and HW. Using amendments ensured pest control benefits which is important given concern that PPNs can inflict crop damage during increased cultivation of M × g. Further research is needed to examine amendments which can minimise PPNs without reducing populations of nitrogen-fixing bacterivores and fungivores. Full article