Impacts of Soil Faunal Community Composition on Model Grassland Ecosystems

Abstract

Human impacts, including global change, may alter the composition of soil faunal communities, but consequences for ecosystem functioning are poorly understood. We constructed model grassland systems in the Ecotron controlled environment facility and manipulated soil community composition through assemblages of different animal body sizes. Plant community composition, microbial and root biomass, decomposition rate, and mycorrhizal colonization were all markedly affected. However, two key ecosystem processes, aboveground net primary productivity and net ecosystem productivity, were surprisingly resistant to these changes. We hypothesize that positive and negative faunal-mediated effects in soil communities cancel each other out, causing no net ecosystem effects.

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Affiliated Institutions

• University of Helsinki FI
• Royal Holloway University of London GB
• Aberystwyth University GB
• Sands GB
• University of York GB
• Cardiff University GB
• Natural Environment Research Council GB
• University of Aberdeen GB
• UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology GB
• Technical University of Darmstadt DE
• Lancaster University GB
• University of Hohenheim DE

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