Abstract
Soil fauna are critical for ecosystem function and sensitive to the changes of soil fertility. The effects of fertilization on soil fauna communities, however, remain poorly understood. We examined the effects of fertilization form and quantity on the abundance, diversity and composition of soil fauna across an age-sequence of poplar plantations (i.e., 4-, 9- and 20-yr-old) in the coastal region of eastern China. We found that the effects of fertilization on faunal abundance, diversity, and composition differed among stand ages. Organic fertilizers increased the total abundance of soil fauna, whereas low level inorganic fertilizers imparted increases only in the 4- and 9-yr-old stands. The number of faunal groups did not change with fertilization, but Shannon’s and Margalef diversity indices increased under low level organic fertilization, and decreased under inorganic fertilization in the 9- and 20-yr-old stands. Community composition of soil fauna differed strongly with fertilization and stand age. The changes in soil fauna were strongly associated with the changes in microbial biomass carbon, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen, and available phosphorus and potassium. Our findings suggest that the responses of soil fauna to fertilization may be mediated through the fertilization effects on soil nutrient availability.
Highlights
Unfertilized control; OM1: low level of organic matter fertilizer; OM2: high level of organic matter fertilizer; NPK1: low level of inorganic fertilizer; NPK2: high level of inorganic fertilizer
Fertilization may lead to rapid changes in soil fertility, which could be determined by microbial biomass carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and other nutrients, to exert an effect on soil biology[30,31]
Total abundance (TA) was higher for the organic fertilization than for the inorganic fertilization
Summary
Unfertilized control; OM1: low level of organic matter fertilizer; OM2: high level of organic matter fertilizer; NPK1: low level of inorganic fertilizer; NPK2: high level of inorganic fertilizer. Changes in the soil faunal community under the influence of fertilization may be determined primarily by the quantity and quality of food (i.e., a bottom-up approach), and modification of soil physical and chemical properties[21,22] The application of both organic and inorganic fertilizers to ecosystems has been shown to increase the populations and diversity of soil fauna (e.g., microarthropods and nematode)[23,24]. The chief queries of this study were: (1) What are the effects of organic and inorganic fertilization on the abundance, composition and diversity of soil fauna across different aged stands, and (2) How are the changes in soil faunal communities associated with the changes of soil properties under fertilization?
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