Abstract
Plant decomposition is dependant on the activity of the soil biota and its interactions with climate, soil properties, and plant residue inputs. This work assessed the roles of different groups of the soil biota on litter decomposition, and the way they are modulated by soil use. Litterbags of different mesh sizes for the selective exclusion of soil fauna by size (macro, meso, and microfauna) were filled with standardized dried leaves and placed on the same soil under different use intensities: naturalized grasslands, recent agriculture, and intensive agriculture fields. During five months, litterbags of each mesh size were collected once a month per system with five replicates. The remaining mass was measured and decomposition rates calculated. Differences were found for the different biota groups, and they were dependant on soil use. Within systems, the results show that in the naturalized grasslands, the macrofauna had the highest contribution to decomposition. In the recent agricultural system it was the combined activity of the macro- and mesofauna, and in the intensive agricultural use it was the mesofauna activity. These results underscore the relative importance and activity of the different groups of the edaphic biota and the effects of different soil uses on soil biota activity.
Highlights
The edaphic biota is the main factor directly responsible for soil organic matter turnover and nutrient cycling due to the diversity of processes in which it takes part (Lavelle & Spain, 2001; Lavelle et al, 2006; Brussaard, de Ruiter & Brown, 2007; Culliney, 2013)
The results of percentage remaining mass (%RM) found for each edaphic biota group within agricultural systems analyzed by two-way ANOVA can be seen on Table 1
Two of the selected agroecosystems had been each under the same use for several decades, while the third system was of intermediate disturbance
Summary
The edaphic biota is the main factor directly responsible for soil organic matter turnover and nutrient cycling due to the diversity of processes in which it takes part (Lavelle & Spain, 2001; Lavelle et al, 2006; Brussaard, de Ruiter & Brown, 2007; Culliney, 2013). The fragmentation and incorporation of plant residues into the soil; the construction and maintenance of the structural porosity and soil aggregation are some of the processes the edaphic biota is involved with that have effects on other organisms (Lavelle et al, 2006; Culliney, 2013) This way, multiple interactions with other organisms are developed, on different scales and through the entire range of chemical, physical, and biological processes that support the ecosystem services provided by the soil (Brussaard, de Ruiter & Brown, 2007; Culliney, 2013). These authors state that interactions between macro- and microorganisms are very intense in areas where climate is more or less constant. When environmental traits like the climate are not limiting (drought or flooding) and clay minerals are not very reactive (or do not make a significant contact with the biota), the biological regulation systems take a predominant role in the decomposition of leaf litter (Lavelle et al, 1993; Gonzalez & Seastedt, 2001; Dechaine et al, 2005)
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