Burrowing Activity of Rodents Alter Soil Properties: A Case Study on the Short Tailed Mole Rat (Nesokia indica) in Pothwar Plateau, Punjab, Pakistan

Faiz, Abul; Abbas, Fakhar-i; Faiz, Lariab Zahra

doi:10.17582/journal.pjz/2018.50.719.724

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Previous studies confirmed that bioturbation activity depends on the different climate concomitant with varying vegetation patterns (Don et al, 2019;Eldridge and Whitford, 2014;Jouquet et al, 2017;Kraus et al, 2022;Wilkinson et al, 2009;Yu et al, 2017). One reason therefore is that in arid climate regions bioturbation occurs due to the loss of shelter like plants protecting the animals from the sun or predation which explains that burrowing animals in the desert prefer digging next to the occurring sparse vegetation and during this process, they bury plants or plant parts resulting in higher C and N contents within bioturbated soils (Raymond P. Yurkewycz et al, 2014;Platt et al, 2016;Faiz et al, 2018). In contrast, C and N contents in this and other studies did not significantly change in bioturbated compared https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1427 Preprint.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is mainly attributed to the transport of soluble nutrients to the near-surface soil during the active mixing of the vertical soil column (Abaturov, 1972). Several studies reported a positive correlation between bioturbation activity and C content in the near-surface soil (Faiz et al, 2018;Nkem et al, 2000;Yurkewycz et al, 2014;Platt et al, 2016;Frouz, 2020). Such an enrichment of C is possible since the C within the organic layer on the surface is exposed and unprotected to disturbances such as bioturbation and can easily be transported by bioturbators (Jandl et al, 2007;Zakharova et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such an enrichment of C is possible since the C within the organic layer on the surface is exposed and unprotected to disturbances such as bioturbation and can easily be transported by bioturbators (Jandl et al, 2007;Zakharova et al, 2014). Consequently, bioturbation causes C fluxes between the different soil layers (Arai et al, 2007;Fröberg et al, 2005) leading to an increased C supply of the near-surface soil and accordingly to an accumulation of organic matter (OM) (Yurkewycz et al, 2014;Platt et al, 2016;Faiz et al, 2018). Further, bioturbation increases total N at the near-surface soil directly through the bioturbators' physical digging and thereby mixing of the soil layer bringing up the N from deeper soil layers (Lara et al,2007;Laycock and Richardson, 1975;Hagenah and Bennett, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bioturbation enhances C and N contents on near-surface soils in resource-deficient arid climate regions but shows adverse effects in more temperate climates

Kraus

Brandl

Bendix

et al. 2023

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Abstract. Bioturbating animals can affect physical and chemical soil properties on near-surface soil by either foraging for food or constructing suitable habitats. Thereby, bioturbation can influence the soil texture either sorting or mixing the different grain sizes clay, silt and sand during burrowing. Additionally, bioturbating animals can increase the macronutrients carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) through the transport of nutrients by vertically mixing the soil column and the addition of the bioturbators’ feces to the soil surface. To date, it is not clear how the effects of bioturbation on soil properties vary along an ecological gradient. Therefore, we compared the physical properties clay, silt and sand and the chemical contents of the macronutrients C, N and P for soil samples from mounds and the surrounding area as controls in three different climatic regions (arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean) of coastal Chile. To do so, we calculated the difference between the concentrations of paired mound and control samples. When comparing soil texture, we did not find significant differences between mound and control soil samples. For the macronutrient contents, the difference between mound and control C and N contents increased in the arid site and decreased in the two other research sites with increasing vegetation cover. Since we aimed to cover bioturbation patterns on a broader scale, we additionally compared our findings to other bioturbation studies performed in different biomes. Thereby, we found that other studies also show small differences in soil properties caused by bioturbation which are already sufficient to increase soil fertility.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bioturbation enhances C and N contents on near-surface soils in resource-deficient arid climate regions but shows adverse effects in more temperate climates

Kraus

Brandl

Bendix

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Performance of Multiple Models for Estimating Rodent Activity Intensity in Alpine Grassland Using Remote Sensing

et al. 2023

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Rodents are a vital part of the natural succession chain of the alpine grassland ecosystem, and rodent activities have an important impact on alpine grassland ecology. Moderate rodent population activities positively improve soil permeability, promote nutrient cycling, and promote biodiversity. However, too much rodent population or excessive activity intensity will bring negative effects on the ecological environment. Therefore, it is of great significance to accurately grasp the rodent activity intensity (RAI) in alpine grassland to cope with the changes in rodent populations and maintain the stability of the alpine grassland ecosystem. The Zoige alpine grassland was used as the study area in this study. In addition, UAV was sent to sample the rodent activity area in the alpine grassland. With the aid of field survey data, the surface information of rodent activity in the experimental area was identified, and the RAI index in the sample plot was calculated. Then, based on Sentinel-2A satellite remote sensing multi-spectral data and spectral index, multiple linear regression (MLR), multi-layer perceptron neural networks (MPL neural nets), random forest (RF), and support vector regression (SVR) were used to construct four models for RAI and Sentinel-2 datasets. The accuracy of the four models was compared and analyzed. The results showed that the RF model had the highest prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.8263, RWI = 0.8210, LCCC = 0.8916, RMSE = 0.0840, MAE = 0.0549), followed by the SVR model, the MLP neural nets model, and the MLR model. Overall, the nonlinear relationship between rodent activity intensity and satellite remote sensing images is obvious. Machine learning with strong nonlinear fitting ability can better characterize the RAI in alpine grassland. The RF model, with the best accuracy, can quantitatively estimate RAI in the alpine grassland, providing theoretical and technical support for monitoring RAI and rodent control in the alpine grassland.

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Burrowing Activity of Rodents Alter Soil Properties: A Case Study on the Short Tailed Mole Rat (Nesokia indica) in Pothwar Plateau, Punjab, Pakistan

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Bioturbation enhances C and N contents on near-surface soils in resource-deficient arid climate regions but shows adverse effects in more temperate climates

Bioturbation enhances C and N contents on near-surface soils in resource-deficient arid climate regions but shows adverse effects in more temperate climates

Performance of Multiple Models for Estimating Rodent Activity Intensity in Alpine Grassland Using Remote Sensing

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