Different microhabitats affect soil macroinvertebrate assemblages in a Mediterranean arid ecosystem

Doblas‐Miranda, Enrique; Sánchez‐Piñero, Francisco; González‐Megías, Adela

doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2008.12.008

Cited by 66 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Belowground detritivore biomass was 1.5e3 times higher in ant nest mounds than in the soil below the canopy of the dominant shrubs in the study area, and more than 37 times the biomass of detritivores in the soil in bare soil areas (Doblas-Miranda et al, 2009c). The effects of granivores on soil fauna are largely indirect, due to the accumulation of plant debris (similar to litter accumulated under the canopy of the most productive shrubs in the area; see Doblas-Miranda et al, 2009b) and ant remains around nest entrances.…”

Section: Granivore-soil Fauna Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Trophic interactions in an arid ecosystem: From decomposers to top-predators

Megías

Sánchez‐Piñero

Hódar

2011

Journal of Arid Environments

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Section: Granivore-soil Fauna Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Trophic interactions in an arid ecosystem: From decomposers to top-predators

Megías

Sánchez‐Piñero

Hódar

2011

Journal of Arid Environments

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“…Grazing-induced disturbances reinforce the differences between shrubs and their interspaces, with eroded sediment and airborne nutrients accumulating under shrub canopies due to wind and water processes (Li et al, 2009). In addition, increased infiltration beneath shrub canopies, enhanced micro-and macroarthropod activity (Doblas-Miranda et al, 2009) and therefore decomposition processes promote a new set of positive feedbacks between shrubs and the remaining bare ground (Holmgren, 2009), where shrub growth is promoted at the expense of plants in the interspaces. We summarize the processes that were affected by grazing and/or ploughing in a conceptual model (Figure 4a).…”

Section: Changes Of Hydrological Processes With Grazing and Ploughingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of infiltration vary with disturbance in a shrub-encroached woodland

Daryanto

Eldridge²,

Wang

2013

Geomorphology

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Woody plant encroachment is known to have substantial effects on a range of ecosystem processes. Research worldwide indicates that the area around shrubs and trees has higher levels of infiltration than the interspaces. Little is known, however, about the hydrological consequences of shrub removal on infiltration, and how this might be influenced by grazing. We examined the spatial patterns of infiltration across three treatments relating to shrub removal and grazing: (i) undisturbed (ungrazed, unploughed), (ii) grazed but unploughed, and (iii) grazed and ploughed. In general we found that disturbance was associated with a greater cover of bare soil but lower infiltrability, our laboratory-based measure of infiltration. At the undisturbed site, bare soil was patchy and localized, with an autocorrelation range or connectivity of 1.4 m. The autocorrelation range of infiltrability at this site (A0 = 3 m) was larger than would be predicted from the size of the shrub canopy, and this was attributed to the presence of a well-developed understorey layer and biological soil crust community. At both grazed sites, infiltration was confined to the immediate canopy area of the remaining shrubs (A0 = 1.2 m in the unploughed-grazed site). Additionally, there was increasing connectivity of bare soil with disturbance, up to 6.8 m at the ploughed-grazed site. With increasing disturbance, resource-rich shrub patches are likely to become more developed, further reinforcing their growth and persistence at the expense of the bare interspaces. Our results indicate the importance of shrubs for maintaining landscape connectivity, and the long-term unsustainable practice of removal by ploughing, which is likely to promote shrub dominance rather than suppression.

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“…Movement of sand in deserts may also be a concern to human industry such as railroads in the Horqin Sandy Land, China ). Many others focused on restoring biodiversity or ecosystem function to areas, often through the restoration of soil (Zou et al 2008, Doblas-Miranda et al 2009 the use of fire are often also helpful in promoting biodiversity, which is likely why these were also among the most commonly studied topics (Schwinning et al 2003, Parisien et al 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of the use of statistics in studies of restoration ecology of arid areas

Noble

2014

Preprint

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Restoration ecology is the study of restoration or restoration practices in degraded areas. It is of particular importance in arid environments due to the heavy impact humans have had in these areas. Some studies of restoration may require different statistics due to the unique challenges faced when examining degraded areas. A systematic review was conducted to assess the use of statistics in the field. It was determined that the field and influence of restoration ecology had increased dramatically since its development. Statistics are widely used in the study of restoration of arid areas. Major tests are similar to those found in other ecological studies such as ANOVAs and linear regressions. There were a few less common tests used in some of the studies. These include tests such as the Mantel test which may be useful to restoration ecology and should be explored further. Finally it was determined that the description of how statistics were used in the study was particularly important. The description should be detailed to help other researchers understand the findings of the paper. This will help to advance the field and the restoration of arid environments.PeerJ PrePrints | http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.551v1 | CC-BY 4.0 Open Access | rec:

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Different microhabitats affect soil macroinvertebrate assemblages in a Mediterranean arid ecosystem

Cited by 66 publications

References 37 publications

Trophic interactions in an arid ecosystem: From decomposers to top-predators

Trophic interactions in an arid ecosystem: From decomposers to top-predators

Spatial patterns of infiltration vary with disturbance in a shrub-encroached woodland

A systematic review of the use of statistics in studies of restoration ecology of arid areas

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