Understanding soil erosion impacts in temperate agroecosystems: bridging the gap between geomorphology and soil ecology using nematodes as a model organism

[摘要] Soil is a key asset of natural capital, providing a myriad of goods andecosystem services that sustain life through regulating, supporting andprovisioning roles, delivered by chemical, physical and biologicalprocesses. One of the greatest threats to soil is accelerated erosion, whichraises a natural process to unsustainable levels, and has downstreamconsequences (e.g.~economic, environmental and social). Globalintensification of agroecosystems is a recognised major cause of soilerosion which, in light of predicted population growth and increased demandfor food security, will continueor increase. Transport and redistributionof biota by soil erosion has hitherto been ignored and thus is poorlyunderstood. With the move to sustainable intensification this is a keyknowledge gap that needs to be addressed. Here we highlight theerosion-energy and effective-erosion-depth continuum in soils,differentiating between different forms of soil erosion, and argue thatnematodes are an appropriate model taxa to investigate impacts of erosion onsoil biota across scales. We review the different known mechanisms of soilerosion that impact on soil biota in general, and nematodes in particular,and highlight the few detailed studies, primarily from tropical regions,that have considered soil biota. Based on the limited literature andusing nematodes as a model organism we outline future research priorities toinitially address the important interrelationships between soil erosionprocesses and soil biota.

[学科分类] 地球化学与岩石