P06 Soil fauna as drivers of the architecture of forest floors

Early research suggests that the configuration of the organic layer in forests is primarily influenced by soil animal activity. Yet, research in this area has long relied on descriptive methods, offering only restricted insights into the underlying mechanisms. In recent years, significant strides have been made in comprehending the structure and operation of decomposer communities. However, these advancements have seen limited application in studying the development and fluctuations of forest floors (FFs).

Project P6 aims to investigate the impact of soil fauna on the structure and dynamics of forest floors (FF), while also examining how their effects correlate with various functional groups and feeding guilds of decomposer invertebrates. Detritivore soil animals including Oribatida, Enchytraeidae, Collembola, Diplopoda, Isopoda and Lumbricidae will be determined to species level. Compound-specific amino acid analysis and bulk stable isotope analysis are employed to investigate the flow of energy through the detritivore food web. The study also examines the influence of soil meso- and macrofauna on the structure and dynamics of forest floors (FFs), as well as the spatial distribution of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) in litter facilitated by detritivores, utilizing mesocosms containing labeled litter of varying mesh sizes.

In summary, the study utilizes all 12 observational sites of the RU for both the mesocosm experiment and the FF labeling experiment. By integrating state-of-the-art methodologies and experimental approaches, it aims to thoroughly investigate the contribution of soil detritivores to the formation and dynamics of FFs.

Installed mescocsom at the site Conventwald