Bradford, M. A. and Jones, T. H. and Bardgett, Richard D. and Black, Helaina I. J. and Boag, B. and Bonkowski, M. and Cook, R. and Eggers, T. and Gange, A. C. and Grayston, S. J. and Kandeler, E. and McCaig, A. E. and Newington, J. E. and Prosser, J. I. and Setälä, H. and Staddon, P. L. and Tordoff, G. M. and Tscherko, D. and Lawton, J. H. (2002) Impacts of Soil Faunal Community Composition on Model Grassland Ecosystems. Science, 298 (5593). pp. 615-618. ISSN 0036-8075
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Human impacts, including global change, may alter the composition of soil faunal communities, but consequences for ecosystem functioning are poorly understood. We constructed model grassland systems in the Ecotron controlled environment facility and manipulated soil community composition through assemblages of different animal body sizes. Plant community composition, microbial and root biomass, decomposition rate, and mycorrhizal colonization were all markedly affected. However, two key ecosystem processes, aboveground net primary productivity and net ecosystem productivity, were surprisingly resistant to these changes. We hypothesize that positive and negative faunal-mediated effects in soil communities cancel each other out, causing no net ecosystem effects.