Breaking ground: Pedological, geological, and ecological implications of soil bioturbation

Wilkinson, Marshall T.; Richards, Paul; Humphreys, Geoff S.

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2009.09.005

Cited by 307 publications

(309 citation statements)

References 137 publications

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“…faecal pellets, ant and termite mounds). Mounds and burrows are obvious signs of physical heterogeneity created by ecosystem engineers (Meysmann et al, 2006;Wilkinson et al, 2009;Sanders et al, 2014). These structures significantly affect microorganisms and plants (Chauvel et al, 1999;Frelich et al, 2006) and associated soil properties such as aggregate stability (Bossuyt et al, 2005(Bossuyt et al, , 2006 and hydraulic properties (Bottinelli et al, 2015;Andriuzzi et al, 2015).…”

Section: Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Roots preferably grow in existing soil cavities (Jiménez and Lal, 2006), mostly formed by soil fauna (Wilkinson et al, 2009). Both burrowing and non-burrowing soil animals have a strong impact on root growth, allocation, length and density (Brown et al, 1994;Bonkowski et al, 2009;Arnone and Zaller, 2014).…”

Section: Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…How important animal activities are for manifold geological and pedological processes has been reviewed repeatedly (e.g. Swift et al, 1979;Wilkinson et al, 2009), but carbon turnover -which is highly dynamic and both directly and indirectly affected by animals -had never been the focus. Due to their prime role in most processes in soil (Briones, 2014), we mostly focus on earthworms, but also give examples for other groups of soil fauna whose role in C turnover appears to be much more relevant than thought thus far (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, they ignored a major component of SOM dynamics, soil fauna, which plays a fundamental role in most of the insights they propose (e.g. Fox et al, 2006;Jiménez et al, 2006;Osler and Sommerkorn, 2007;De Deyn et al, 2008;Wilkinson et al, 2009). By moving through and reworking soil, feeding on living plant roots, detritus and all types of microorganisms growing on these, soil animals are intimately involved in every step of SOM turnover.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Filser

Faber

Tiunov

et al. 2016

SOIL

174

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Abstract. Soil organic matter (SOM) is key to maintaining soil fertility, mitigating climate change, combatting land degradation, and conserving above-and below-ground biodiversity and associated soil processes and ecosystem services. In order to derive management options for maintaining these essential services provided by soils, policy makers depend on robust, predictive models identifying key drivers of SOM dynamics. Existing SOM models and suggested guidelines for future SOM modelling are defined mostly in terms of plant residue quality and input and microbial decomposition, overlooking the significant regulation provided by soil fauna. The fauna controls almost any aspect of organic matter turnover, foremost by regulating the activity and functional composition of soil microorganisms and their physical-chemical connectivity with soil organic matter. We demonstrate a very strong impact of soil animals on carbon turnover, increasing or decreasing it by several dozen percent, sometimes even turning C sinks into C sources or vice versa. This is demonstrated not only for earthworms and other larger invertebrates but also for smaller fauna such as Collembola. We suggest that inclusion of soil animal activities (plant residue consumption and bioturbation altering the formation, depth, hydraulic properties and physical heterogeneity of soils) can fundamentally affect the predictive outcome of SOM models. Understanding direct and indirect impacts of soil fauna on nutrient availability, carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions and plant growth is key to the understanding of SOM dynamics in the context of global carbon cycling models. We argue that explicit consideration of soil fauna is essential to make realistic modelling predictions on SOM dynamics and to detect expected non-linear responses of SOM dynamics to global change. WePublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 566 J. Filser et al.: Soil fauna: key to new carbon models present a decision framework, to be further developed through the activities of KEYSOM, a European COST Action, for when mechanistic SOM models include soil fauna. The research activities of KEYSOM, such as field experiments and literature reviews, together with dialogue between empiricists and modellers, will inform how this is to be done.

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Section: Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Filser

Faber

Tiunov

et al. 2016

SOIL

174

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“…On the landscape scale they add to habitat patchiness (heterogeneity), and in consequence boost species diversity (Veen and Olff 2011). Soil mixing and displacement by living organisms, called biopedturbation, are examples of such disturbances (Wilkinson et al 2009). This may result from an animal burrowing for shelter or digging for food.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burrowing by badgers (Meles meles) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes) changes soil conditions and vegetation in a European temperate forest

Kurek

Kapusta

Holeksa

2013

Ecological Research

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This study examined the effects of burrow digging and habitation by the European badger (Meles meles) and the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) on soil properties and the plant community. The vegetation of control plots located in a similar but undisturbed habitat was compared with that of 18 burrow plots established at badger setts (N = 9) and fox dens (N = 9) in a lowland forest area in Poland. Soil physicochemical properties at different disturbance levels (mounds, intermounds and reference areas) were also investigated. The animals altered nutrient availability in the burrow plots considerably by excavating material from deep soil horizons that were less acidic and higher in K, Ca, Mg and available P but poorer in C and N. The effect was stronger for the badger, probably because it displaced larger amounts of material and disturbed wider areas. The activity of the two carnivores induced similar changes in plant communities. They increased herbaceous species richness and caused a shift in the herbaceous species composition: versus the control plots, the burrow plots contained more fugitive species (short-living plants typical for disturbed environments), among which ruderal forbs, including nutrient-demanding species, dominated. The carnivores also increased the species richness of fleshyfruited shrubs and trees. The primary reason for this was probably not burrowing but endozoochorous seed dispersal. Overall, the results indicate that the badger setts and fox dens differ significantly from the forest matrix in terms of soil and vegetation parameters, and that they contribute to habitat heterogeneity and biological diversity.

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Plants and Animals as Geobiological Agents

Beerling¹,

Butterfield²

2012

Fundamentals of Geobiology

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Breaking ground: Pedological, geological, and ecological implications of soil bioturbation

Cited by 307 publications

References 137 publications

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Soil fauna: key to new carbon models

Burrowing by badgers (Meles meles) and foxes (Vulpes vulpes) changes soil conditions and vegetation in a European temperate forest

Plants and Animals as Geobiological Agents

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