Book ChapterDOI
Soil Carbon Dynamics: Trophic interactions and their implications for soil carbon fluxes
Edward Ayres,Diana H. Wall,Richard D. Bardgett +2 more
- pp 187-206
TLDR
In this article, the impacts of both above and below-ground herbivores on carbon flux into, and out of, the soil and the interactions between herbsivores, plants and soil organisms are discussed.Abstract:
INTRODUCTION Trophic interactions, the consumption of one organism, or a part of it, by another, are a fundamental component of all ecosystems. The vast majority of net primary productivity is eventually consumed, either by herbivores if the tissue is still alive, or by decomposers if the tissue has died (e.g. Cebrian, 2004). Similarly, these primary consumers are themselves consumed either by predators, parasites or decomposers (secondary consumers). Thus, trophic interactions form the pathways through which carbon flows through an ecosystem and, to a large extent, these interactions control ecosystem carbon dynamics, either directly (via consumption of another organism) or indirectly (e.g. altering competition between the prey individual/population and other organisms). In this chapter we consider the principal ways by which trophic interactions influence soil carbon fluxes (Fig. 10.1). Firstly, we discuss the impacts of both above- and below-ground herbivores on carbon flux into, and out of, the soil and the interactions between herbivores, plants and soil organisms (dashed box in Fig. 10.1). Secondly, we investigate the role of soil fauna in organic matter decomposition, either directly via the consumption of litter, or indirectly via feeding on saprotrophs or the movement of organic matter (dotted box in Fig. 10.1). Thirdly, we examine the role of resource availability versus predation in structuring soil food webs, followed by the linkages between soil biodiversity and a range of ecosystem processes, including plant growth, litter decomposition and carbon mineralization (solid box in Fig. 10.1).read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The fate of glucose, a low molecular weight compound of root exudates, in the belowground foodweb of forests and pastures
TL;DR: The results suggest that LMWCCs entering belowground systems may propagate through soil foodwebs rapidly, and that their partitioning belowground may potentially be determined by higher trophic levels.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil respiration across scales: towards an integration of patterns and processes
TL;DR: This issue of New Phytologist focuses on the plant immune response and especially on how modification of the immune co-activator protein NPR1 can control its localization and abundance in plant cells.
Journal ArticleDOI
The oribatid mite Scheloribates moestus (Acari: Oribatida) alters litter chemistry and nutrient cycling during decomposition
Kyle Wickings,A. Stuart Grandy +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the potential effects of S. moestus on litter decomposition dynamics and chemical transformations, and whether these effects are influenced by variation in initial litter quality.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil biota, carbon cycling and crop plant biomass responses to biochar in a temperate mesocosm experiment
Sarah A. McCormack,Nick Ostle,Richard D. Bardgett,David Hopkins,David Hopkins,M. Glória Pereira,Adam J. Vanbergen +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of biochar, soil texture, and crop species treatments on microbial biomass (PFLA), soil invertebrate density, crop biomass and ecosystem CO2 flux in plant-soil mesocosms were investigated.
Dissertation
Effects of irrigation, effluent dispersal and organic farming on earthworms and soil microbes in New Zealand dairy farms
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured how conversion, irrigation and effluent dispersal affect earthworm species composition, distribution, density, age structure and biomass by sampling earthworms across six treatments: (i) dairy pastures with added effluent, (ii) with added water through irrigation, (iii) effluent and water added together, and (iv) neither water nor effluent were added; and sheep/beef pastures (v) without irrigation, and with irrigation.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems
TL;DR: Human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing as discussed by the authors, between one-third and one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial sources combined; more than half of all accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction.
Journal ArticleDOI
Herbivory in global climate change research: direct effects of rising temperature on insect herbivores
J. S. Bale,Gregory J. Masters,Ian D. Hodkinson,Caroline S. Awmack,T. Martijn Bezemer,Valerie K. Brown,Jennifer Butterfield,Alan Buse,John C. Coulson,John Farrar,John E. G. Good,Richard Harrington,Susane Hartley,T. Hefin Jones,Richard L. Lindroth,Malcolm C. Press,Ilias Symrnioudis,Allan D. Watt,J. B. Whittaker +18 more
TL;DR: Future research needs to consider insect herbivore phenotypic and genotypic flexibility, their responses to global change parameters operating in concert, and awareness that some patterns may only become apparent in the longer term.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quantitative effects of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments
TL;DR: In this article, the authors quantitatively assess factors relating to differential sensitivities of ecosystems to grazing by large herbivores, including species composition, aboveground net primary production (ANPP), root biomass, and soil nutrients of protected, ungrazed sites.
Journal ArticleDOI
Exploitation of herbivore-induced plant odors by host-seeking parasitic wasps.
TL;DR: Corn seedlings release large amounts of terpenoid volatiles after they have been fed upon by caterpillars, and females of the parasitic wasp Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson) learn to take advantage of those plant-producedvolatiles to locate hosts when exposed to these volatile in association with hosts or host by-products.