Ecology of Soil-Dwelling Arthropods in a Modern World
A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Diversity and Ecology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (17 March 2023) | Viewed by 2568
Special Issue Editors
Interests: soil ecology; ecology of soil mites; community ecology; oribatid mites; numerical ecology; soil nutrient cycling
Interests: soil ecology; agroecology; agricultural remediation; Collembola zoology; climate change
Interests: systematics, biogeography, evolution and adaptations in tardigrades, taxonomy, phylogeography, karyotype and genome; reproductive biology of invertebrates, gametes and life histories; extreme environments: adaptive and microevolutionary aspects of cryptobiosis; ecology of soil microarthropods of the agroecosystems: effects of herbicides and tillage on pedofauna
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Soil-dwelling arthropods are a key component of decomposer communities in soil. This group comprises animals from the mesofauna (e.g., Collembola and mites) and the macrofauna (isopods, myriapods and insects). On one hand, they have considerable roles in soil function through transforming and fragmenting litter, mixing organic and mineral compartments, and increasing microbial activity through destructing and disseminating fungal hyphae and spores. In addition, all these activities are regulated by predators of the community. Although their role in soil health is now being recognized, the integration of this group into our understanding of soil processes is still in its infancy. These gaps could be filled by revealing the hidden and complex trophic interactions of soil arthropods.
On the other hand, soil arthropods are present in many and diverse soil niches, but our knowledge of the biotic and abiotic drivers controlling and maintaining the high diversity of soil organisms is still limited. The diversity, abundance and vertical stratification of soil arthropods are good indicators of soil quality. They reflect the effects of different processes from global to local scale (e.g., climate change, nitrogen deposition, land-use change, urbanization and the effects of different agricultural practices). In addition to their indicator role, soil arthropods can also affect global and local processes, as they have different feedbacks on agricultural, conservation and soil-remediation techniques.
In this Special Issue, the latest results will be presented regarding our understanding of the ecology and indication strength of soil-dwelling arthropods, using different approaches from descriptive studies to laboratory and field experiments. We believe that in our modern world, soil ecology equally deserves applied and fundamental research.
Dr. Veronika Gergócs
Dr. Norbert Flórián
Prof. Dr. Roberto Bertolani
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- biotic and abiotic drivers
- decomposition
- climate change
- conservation
- trophic niches
- insects
- isopods
- land-use effects
- microarthropods
- myriapods
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