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Trophic niche but not abundance of Collembola and Oribatida changes with drought and farming system

Meyer, Svenja; Kundel, Dominika; Birkhofer, Klaus; Fliessbach, Andreas and Scheu, Stefan (2022) Trophic niche but not abundance of Collembola and Oribatida changes with drought and farming system. PeerJ, 10, e12777.

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Summary

Higher frequencies of summer droughts are predicted to change soil conditions in the future affecting soil fauna communities and their biotic interactions. In agroecosystems drought effects on soil biota may be modulated by different management practices that alter the availability of different food resources. Recent studies on the effect of drought on soil microarthropods focused on measures of abundance and diversity. We here additionally investigated shifts in trophic niches of Collembola and Oribatida as indicated by stable isotope analysis (13C and 15N). We simulated short-term summer drought by excluding 65% of the ambient precipitation in conventionally and organically managed winter wheat fields on the DOK trial in Switzerland. Stable isotope values suggest that plant litter and root exudates were the most important resources for Collembola (Isotoma caerulea, Isotomurus maculatus and Orchesella villosa) and older plant material and microorganisms for Oribatida (Scheloribates laevigatus and Tectocepheus sarekensis). Drought treatment and farming systems did not affect abundances of the studied species. However, isotope values of some species increased in organically managed fields indicating a higher proportion of microorganisms in their diet. Trophic niche size, a measure of both isotope values combined, decreased with drought and under organic farming in some species presumably due to favored use of plants as basal resource instead of algae and microorganisms. Overall, our results suggest that the flexible usage of resources may buffer effects of drought and management practices on the abundance of microarthropods in agricultural systems.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:Collembola, stable isotopes, organic agriculture, Abacus, FiBL10101, SoilClim
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
Collembola
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1759
English
stable isotopes
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3e21c332
English
organic farming -> organic agriculture
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_15911
Subjects: Soil > Soil quality > Soil biology
Environmental aspects > Biodiversity and ecosystem services
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Soil > Soil quality
ISSN:2167-8359
DOI:10.7717/peerj.12777
Deposited By: Fließbach, Dr. Andreas
ID Code:44776
Deposited On:02 Dec 2022 14:10
Last Modified:29 Mar 2023 07:30
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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