Assemblages of soil macrofauna across a Scottish land‐use intensification gradient: influences of habitat quality, heterogeneity and area

Eggleton, Paul; Vanbergen, Adam J.; Jones, David T.; Lambert, Matthew C.; Rockett, Carole; Hammond, Peter; Beccaloni, Janet; Marriott, D. L.; Ross, Emma; Giusti, Alessandro

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01090.x

Cited by 50 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The diversity, abundance, biomass and density of soil fauna has been used as indicator of natural or anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial ecosystems because they are strictly correlated with physical, chemical, and microbiological soil attributes (Decaëns et al, 2004;Eggleton et al, 2005). This is a quite simple, easy, and economical procedure employed for assessment of the taxonomic diversity at order, class or key species level.…”

Section: Faunal Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil health: looking for suitable indicators. What should be considered to assess the effects of use and management on soil health?

Cardoso¹,

Vasconcellos²,

Bini³

et al. 2013

Sci. agric. (Piracicaba, Braz.)

418

220

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Soil Health refers to the ecological equilibrium and the functionality of a soil and its capacity to maintain a well balanced ecosystem with high biodiversity above and below surface, and productivity. To understand and use soil health as a tool for sustainability, physical, chemical, and biological properties must be employed to verify which respond to the soil use and management within a desired timescale. Attributes with a rapid response to natural or anthropogenic actions are considered good indicators of soil health. Among the physical indicators, soil texture, aggregation, moisture, porosity, and bulk density have been used, while among chemical indicators total C and N, mineral nutrients, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, among others are well established. However, most of them generally have a slow response, when compared to the biological ones, such as microbial biomass C and N, biodiversity, soil enzymes, soil respiration, etc., in addition to macro and mesofauna. Thus, a systemic approach based on different kinds of indicators (physical, chemical and biological) in assessing soil health would be safer than using only one kind of attribute. Many human activities have caused desertification, loss of biodiversity, disruption of aggregates, loss of organic matter and nutrients, among others. Today, it is imperious to maintain soil health and productivity with increasing emphasis on reforestation and recuperation of degraded areas through the use of organic amendments, reintroduction of plants, soil fauna and microorganisms. This review focused on an integrative view on indicators of soil health to be used as tools for prediction of sustainability in production systems.

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Section: Faunal Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil health: looking for suitable indicators. What should be considered to assess the effects of use and management on soil health?

Cardoso¹,

Vasconcellos²,

Bini³

et al. 2013

Sci. agric. (Piracicaba, Braz.)

418

220

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“…Comparatively little is known, however, about the impact of landscape-scale habitat heterogeneity on species, such as soil invertebrates, that operate at Wne spatial scales (e.g. centimetres-metres) and are of restricted mobility (Chust et al 2003;Dauber et al 2005;Eggleton et al 2005;Joschko et al 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthropogenic forest fragmentation (Didham et al 1998a;Davies et al 2000;Andresen 2003), conversion to silviculture or agriculture (Eggleton et al 2002;Dunn 2004) and land-use intensiWcation (Lawton et al 1998;Benton et al 2003;Jones et al 2003;Eggleton et al 2005) alter the size and heterogeneity of habitats. These anthropogenic drivers can create landscapes that are a mosaic of habitats; these, in turn, can inXuence species diversity depending on how each species perceives this environmental heterogeneity (Tews et al 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

Scale-specific correlations between habitat heterogeneity and soil fauna diversity along a landscape structure gradient

et al. 2007

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Habitat heterogeneity contributes to the maintenance of diversity, but the extent that landscape-scale rather than local-scale heterogeneity influences the diversity of soil invertebrates-species with small range sizes-is less clear. Using a Scottish habitat heterogeneity gradient we correlated Collembola and lumbricid worm species richness and abundance with different elements (forest cover, habitat richness and patchiness) and qualities (plant species richness, soil variables) of habitat heterogeneity, at landscape (1 km(2)) and local (up to 200 m(2)) scales. Soil fauna assemblages showed considerable turnover in species composition along this habitat heterogeneity gradient. Soil fauna species richness and turnover was greatest in landscapes that were a mosaic of habitats. Soil fauna diversity was hump-shaped along a gradient of forest cover, peaking where there was a mixture of forest and open habitats in the landscape. Landscape-scale habitat richness was positively correlated with lumbricid diversity, while Collembola and lumbricid abundances were negatively and positively related to landscape spatial patchiness. Furthermore, soil fauna diversity was positively correlated with plant diversity, which in turn peaked in the sites that were a mosaic of forest and open habitat patches. There was less evidence that local-scale habitat variables (habitat richness, tree cover, plant species richness, litter cover, soil pH, depth of organic horizon) affected soil fauna diversity: Collembola diversity was independent of all these measures, while lumbricid diversity positively and negatively correlated with vascular plant species richness and tree canopy density. Landscape-scale habitat heterogeneity affects soil diversity regardless of taxon, while the influence of habitat heterogeneity at local scales is dependent on taxon identity, and hence ecological traits, e.g. body size. Landscape-scale habitat heterogeneity by providing different niches and refuges, together with passive dispersal and population patch dynamics, positively contributes to soil faunal diversity.

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“…Such intensification results in the removal of structural elements of the matrix, for example the removal of paddock trees (Maron, 2005), as well as resulting in direct mortality for species susceptible to chemical inputs. The impacts of such loss and alteration of matrix habitat are evident at both the paddock and the landscape scale (Eggleton et al, 2005;Tscharntke et al, 2005). Simulation studies have demonstrated that matrix quality can affect the ability of species to traverse the landscape by influencing the effectiveness of stepping stones and corridors (Baum et al, 2004), and paddock trees in particular have been shown to provide nesting and feeding habitat (Law et al, 2000;Lumsden et al, 2002;Manning et al, 2004;Lumsden and Bennett, 2005) and act as stepping stones between native vegetation remnants (Fischer and Lindenmayer, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Largescale shifts to intensive land uses in regions long used for traditional, more extensive agriculture have been implicated in such declines, particularly in Europe (Fuller et al, 1995;Chamberlain et al, 2000;Newton, 2004;Eggleton et al, 2005). The everincreasing pressure for greater production efficiency in farming systems is continuing to drive the trend toward more intensive agricultural practices (Mansergh et al).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural intensification and loss of matrix habitat over 23 years in the West Wimmera, south-eastern Australia

Maron¹,

Fitzsimons²

2007

Biological Conservation

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Agricultural intensification in south-eastern Australia -2 -Agricultural intensification and loss of matrix habitat over 23 years in the West Wimmera, south-eastern Australia AbstractThe global trend toward more intensive forms of agriculture is changing the nature of matrix habitat in agricultural areas. Removal of components of matrix habitat can affect native biota at the paddock and the landscape scale, particularly where intensification occurs over large areas. We identify the loss of paddock trees due to the proliferation of centre pivot irrigation in dryland farming areas as a potentially serious threat to the remnant biota of these areas. We used a region of south-eastern Australia as a case study to quantify land use change from grazing and dryland cropping to centre pivot irrigation over a 23-year period. We also estimated rates of paddock tree loss in 5 representative landscapes within the region over the same period. The total area affected by centre pivots increased from 0 ha in 1980 to nearly 9000 ha by 2005. Pivots were more likely to be established in areas which had originally been plains savannah and woodlands containing buloke (Allocasuarina luehmannii), a food source for an endangered bird. On average, 42% of paddock buloke trees present in 1982 were lost by 2005. In the two landscapes containing several centre pivots, the loss was 54% and 70%. This accelerated loss of important components of matrix habitat is likely to result in species declines and local extinctions. We recommend that measures to alleviate the likely negative impacts of matrix habitat loss on native biota be considered as part of regional planning strategies.

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Assemblages of soil macrofauna across a Scottish land‐use intensification gradient: influences of habitat quality, heterogeneity and area

Cited by 50 publications

References 22 publications

Soil health: looking for suitable indicators. What should be considered to assess the effects of use and management on soil health?

Soil health: looking for suitable indicators. What should be considered to assess the effects of use and management on soil health?

Scale-specific correlations between habitat heterogeneity and soil fauna diversity along a landscape structure gradient

Agricultural intensification and loss of matrix habitat over 23 years in the West Wimmera, south-eastern Australia

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