Abstract
Two desirable functions of healthy soil are nutrient cycling and pest suppression. We review relevant literature on the contributions of soil microarthropods to soil health through their intersecting roles in decomposition and nutrient cycling and direct and indirect suppression of plant pests. Microarthropods can impact soil and plant health directly by feeding on pest organisms or serving as alternate prey for larger predatory arthropods. Indirectly, microarthropods mediate the ability of crop plants to resist or tolerate insect pests and diseases by triggering induced resistance and/or contributing to optimal nutritional balance of plants. Soil fauna, including microarthropods, are key regulators of decomposition at local scales but their role at larger scales is unresolved. Future research priorities include incorporating multi-channel omnivory into food web modeling and understanding the vulnerability of soil carbon through global climate change models.
Highlights
Soil is a multicomponent, multifunctional system that affects the structure and functioning of arable ecosystems through the activities of diverse soil-dwelling organisms interacting with the abiotic environment [1]
Diplura, and Pauropoda are usually less abundant or infrequently detected. Their activities contribute to functions of the microarthropod community with the relative contribution of biotic groups to decomposition changing with disturbance intensity and other environmental factors [15]
Collembolans and mites are very diverse in their feeding behavior and their trophic level spans from primary and secondary decomposers, feeding, predominantly on litter or fungi, to predators from primary and secondary decomposers, feeding, predominantly on litter or fungi, to predators [86,110,111,112]
Summary
Multifunctional system that affects the structure and functioning of arable ecosystems through the activities of diverse soil-dwelling organisms interacting with the abiotic environment [1]. Diplura, and Pauropoda are usually less abundant or infrequently detected Even so, their activities contribute to functions of the microarthropod community with the relative contribution of biotic groups to decomposition changing with disturbance intensity and other environmental factors [15]. We review relevant literature on the contributions of soil microarthropods to soil and plant health through their intersecting roles in decomposition and nutrient cycling and direct and indirect suppression of plant pests. Other reviews provide an overview of earlier works on the roles and diversity of soil microarthropods in agricultural systems [10,11,12,16,17,18,19]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
