Micro-arthropod community responses to ecosystem retrogression in boreal forest

• Published in: Soil Biology and Biochemistry
• Main Authors: Bokhorst, Stef, Berg, Matty P., Wardle, David A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Acari; Biodiversity; Collembola; Chronosequence; Community assembly; Fire; Functional traits; Oribatid mites; Succession; LONG-TERM SUCCESSION; SOIL FOOD-WEB; CARBON SEQUESTRATION; PLANT DIVERSITY; ISLAND AREA; DECOMPOSITION; TRAIT; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/5f77443b-f138-42bb-8193-7c614e4f6111; https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/5f77443b-f138-42bb-8193-7c614e4f6111; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.03.009; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/97543760/1_s2.0_S0038071716304941_main.pdf

Explaining the variation in communities of soil organisms across plant communities or ecosystems remains a major challenge for ecologists. Several studies have explored how soil communities are affected along ecosystem successional gradients but most of these are based on relatively short term chronosequences. To address the impact of ecosystem age on micro-arthropod communities, we utilized a 5000 year old post-fire chronosequence, which consists of thirty lake islands differing greatly in time since fire in the boreal forested zone of northern Sweden. The Acari community did not change along this chronosequence, indicating that Acari rapidly(