Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions
Pores provide important hotspots for chemical and biological processes in soils. Earthworm burrows affect the macropore structure and their actions may create new preferential pathways for water and gas flow within soils. This, in turn, indirectly affect plants, nutrient cycling, hydraulic conductiv...
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Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap
2021
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ftumeauniv:oai:DiVA.org:umu-184226 2023-10-09T21:56:09+02:00 Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions Fransson Forsberg, Joel 2021 application/pdf http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184226 eng eng Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184226 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Biopores macropores geoengineering earthworms X-ray tomography Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Student thesis info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis text 2021 ftumeauniv 2023-09-22T13:54:03Z Pores provide important hotspots for chemical and biological processes in soils. Earthworm burrows affect the macropore structure and their actions may create new preferential pathways for water and gas flow within soils. This, in turn, indirectly affect plants, nutrient cycling, hydraulic conductivity, gas exchange, and soil organisms. While the effects of invasive earthworms on soil properties has been well-documented in temperate and boreal ecosystems, we know little how these organism may affect tundra soils. In this study, I assessed how the three-dimensional network of soil-macropores are affected by earthworm species (Aporrectodea sp. and Lumbricus sp). I hypothesized: i) that earthworms increase the frequency of macropores with a likely biological origin (biopores); ii) effects of biopores are dependent on tundra vegetation type (meadow or heath); and iii) the macropore network properties are altered by earthworms. The hypotheses were tested using a common garden experiment with 48 mesocosms. The pore structure of each mesocosm was analyzed using X-ray CT tomography. I found that biopores increased in the tundra from on 0.05 ±0.01 % (mean ± standard deviation) in the control to about 0.59 ± 0.07 % in the earthworm treatments. However, in contrast to my second hypothesis, I found no vegetation dependent effect. Interestingly, I found that earthworms decreased the complexity and directionality of macropores. My findings strongly indicate that burrowing can severely impact the pore properties of previously uninhabited subarctic soils. Bachelor Thesis Subarctic Tundra Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) Burrows ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.300,-74.300) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Umeå University: Publications (DiVA) |
op_collection_id |
ftumeauniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Biopores macropores geoengineering earthworms X-ray tomography Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap |
spellingShingle |
Biopores macropores geoengineering earthworms X-ray tomography Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap Fransson Forsberg, Joel Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
topic_facet |
Biopores macropores geoengineering earthworms X-ray tomography Natural Sciences Naturvetenskap |
description |
Pores provide important hotspots for chemical and biological processes in soils. Earthworm burrows affect the macropore structure and their actions may create new preferential pathways for water and gas flow within soils. This, in turn, indirectly affect plants, nutrient cycling, hydraulic conductivity, gas exchange, and soil organisms. While the effects of invasive earthworms on soil properties has been well-documented in temperate and boreal ecosystems, we know little how these organism may affect tundra soils. In this study, I assessed how the three-dimensional network of soil-macropores are affected by earthworm species (Aporrectodea sp. and Lumbricus sp). I hypothesized: i) that earthworms increase the frequency of macropores with a likely biological origin (biopores); ii) effects of biopores are dependent on tundra vegetation type (meadow or heath); and iii) the macropore network properties are altered by earthworms. The hypotheses were tested using a common garden experiment with 48 mesocosms. The pore structure of each mesocosm was analyzed using X-ray CT tomography. I found that biopores increased in the tundra from on 0.05 ±0.01 % (mean ± standard deviation) in the control to about 0.59 ± 0.07 % in the earthworm treatments. However, in contrast to my second hypothesis, I found no vegetation dependent effect. Interestingly, I found that earthworms decreased the complexity and directionality of macropores. My findings strongly indicate that burrowing can severely impact the pore properties of previously uninhabited subarctic soils. |
format |
Bachelor Thesis |
author |
Fransson Forsberg, Joel |
author_facet |
Fransson Forsberg, Joel |
author_sort |
Fransson Forsberg, Joel |
title |
Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
title_short |
Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
title_full |
Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
title_sort |
quantifying changes in soil bioporosity in subarctic soils after earthworm invasions |
publisher |
Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184226 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(163.650,163.650,-74.300,-74.300) |
geographic |
Burrows |
geographic_facet |
Burrows |
genre |
Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Subarctic Tundra |
op_relation |
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-184226 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1779320670103011328 |