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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Plant roots fuel tropical soil animal communities    
      
     Date:   
         March 7, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Go"ttingen   
     Summary:   
         A research team has shed new light on the importance of plant roots   
         for below-ground life, particularly in the tropics. Millions of   
         small creatures toiling in a single hectare of soil including   
         earthworms, springtails, mites, insects, and other arthropods   
         are crucial for decomposition and soil health. For a long time,   
         it was believed that leaf litter is the primary resource for   
         these animals. However, this recent study is the first to provide   
         proof that resources derived from plant roots drive soil animal   
         communities in the tropics.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A research team led by the University of Go"ttingen has shed new light   
   on the importance of plant roots for belowground life, particularly in   
   the tropics.   
      
   Millions of small creatures toiling in a single hectare of soil including   
   earthworms, springtails, mites, insects, and other arthropods are crucial   
   for decomposition and soil health. For a long time, it was believed that   
   leaf litter is the primary resource for these animals. However, this   
   recent study is the first to provide proof that resources derived from   
   plant roots drive soil animal communities in the tropics. The results   
   were published in the journalEcology Letters.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   The researchers isolated plots within natural ecosystems and separated the   
   plots from accessing plant roots with a plastic barrier (a technique known   
   as 'root trenching'). Their study included rainforest, as well as both   
   rubber and oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. As a comparison,   
   they removed all dead leaves, the main resource of decomposer animals,   
   from other experimental plots. They found that without living roots,   
   animal abundance in the rainforest plots decreases by 42 percent and in   
   plantations by 30 percent. By contrast, removing the dead leaves has   
   almost no effect on the animals in the underlying soil, but decreased   
   the total animal abundance (in the soil and dead leaves) by 60 percent   
   in rainforest and rubber plantations due to physical litter removal.   
      
   However, the effects of plant litter removal were not observed in oil   
   palm plantations, where litter is very scarce in any case. The study   
   also revealed that living roots are especially important for the smaller   
   soil animals, such as mites and springtails. Interestingly, after adding   
   artificial plastic leaves in oil palm plantations, abundance of some   
   animal groups -- such as prostigmata -- increased, highlighting that   
   improving habitat structure, for instance by mulching, can promote soil   
   food networks and the services they provide.   
      
   "The study provides novel perspectives for the management of the resources   
   provided by plant litter in tropical plantations, fostering soil animal   
   biodiversity. This is important to develop sustainable agricultural   
   landscapes in the tropics," says Professor Stefan Scheu, head of the   
   Animal Ecology Working Group at the University of Go"ttingen.   
      
   "This study's findings are significant not only for the conservation   
   of tropical soil biodiversity, but also for the development of global   
   ecosystem models describing carbon cycling in the tropics. We need a   
   better understanding of the complex ecological systems that support   
   life on Earth," adds Dr Anton Potapov, Soil Biodiversity and Functions   
   at German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv),   
   Halle-Jena-Leipzig.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Soil_Types # Organic # Agriculture_and_Food #   
                   Ecology_Research   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Ecology # Rainforests # Biodiversity # Sustainability   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Soil o Soil_life o Agronomy o Hydroponics o Mite o   
             Soil_science o Vegetation o Plant   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Go"ttingen. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Zheng Zhou, Jing‐Zhong Lu, Jooris Preiser, Rahayu Widyastuti,   
         Stefan Scheu, Anton Potapov. Plant roots fuel tropical soil animal   
         communities. Ecology Letters, 2023; DOI: 10.1111/ele.14191   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230307174312.htm   
      
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