Soil microarthropods are only weakly impacted after 13 years of repeated drought treatment in wet and dry heathland soils

Holmstrup, Martin; Sørensen, Jesper G.; Schmidt, Inger K.; Nielsen, Pia L.; Mason, Sharon; Tietema, Albert; Smith, Andrew R.; Bataillon, Thomas; Beier, Claus; Ehlers, Bodil K.. 2013 Soil microarthropods are only weakly impacted after 13 years of repeated drought treatment in wet and dry heathland soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 66. 110-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.06.023

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Abstract/Summary

Studies of biological responses in the terrestrial environment to rapid changes in climate have mostly been concerned with aboveground biota, whereas less is known of belowground organisms. The present study focuses on mites and springtails of heathland ecosystems and how the microarthropod community has responded to simulated climate change in a long-term field experiment. Increased temperature and repeated drought was applied for 13 years to field plots located in Wales, The Netherlands and Denmark representing sites of contrasting climatic conditions with respect to precipitation and temperature. This approach provided an opportunity to study biological responses on a local (within sites) and regional scale. Warming treatments increasing night time temperature (0.3–1 °C higher than ambient at 5 cm soil depth) had no detectable effects on the microarthropod communities. Increased intensity and frequency of drought had only weak persistent effects on springtail species composition, but practically no effect on major mite groups (Oribatida, Prostigmata or Mesostigmata) suggesting that ecosystem functions of microarthropods may only be transiently impacted by repeated spring or summer drought

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2013.06.023
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Emmett
ISSN:	0038-0717
Additional Keywords:	Acari; Climate change; Collembola; Community composition; Soil fauna; Drought
NORA Subject Terms:	Agriculture and Soil Science Meteorology and Climatology Biology and Microbiology
Date made live:	25 Mar 2014 11:08 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/506418

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