Soil Fauna
It is surprising how little is known about the role of meso- and megafauna play within the soil environment. They constitute a rich pool of species that exhibits a wide range of functional diversity. Some soil animals are true herbivores feeding directly on the roots and/or roots exudates of living plants. However, most subsist on dead plant matter and/or microbes associated with it. Others may be carnivores, parasites, or even top predators.
Despite the paucity of knowledge concerning these fauna, we do know that they play a crucial role in the transfer of organic matter to soils and its subsequent mineralization or long term stabilisation. For example, in the top F layer of a typical forest soil up to as much as 90% of the residual organic matter will exist in the form of arthropod faecal material. Indeed, for the majority of soils the importance of these larger organisms in the pre-processing and comminution of deadfall cannot be overstated.
My interests lie in the combined use of molecular and stable carbon isotope methodologies to help unravel interactive aspects of the soil meso- and megafauna food web and the effects wrought on organic matter by this community.
