Two examples are given of strong relationships between the activity of soil animals and the development of humus forms in a mountain spruce forest and a lowland Scots pine stand. Both were based on field distributions of fauna and humus components. The vertical heterogeneity of soil animal communities in a moder humus profile under Scots pine is related to successional processes occurring durin...

The importance of the earthworms in the agricultural practices is well known. The increasing applications of pesticides and chemicals in the agricultural farms have adversely influenced the flora and fauna of the soil. Earthworms which immensely contribute in increasing the quality and fertility of agricultural soil are reported be worst hit organisms under such conditions. Recent reports have ...

Most studies on plant-mediated above-belowground interactions focus on soil biota with direct trophic links to plant roots such as root herbivores, pathogens, and symbionts. Detritivorous soil fauna, though ubiquitous and present in high abundances and biomasses in soil, are under-represented in those studies. Understanding of their impact on plants is mainly restricted to growth and nutrient u...

Termites are the most important soil fauna in the Sahelian zone of Africa, intensely interacting with the soil. Both the biotic and abiotic state of the soil affect the termite population and activity. The construction by termites of nests, gallery systems or sheetings from soil or from a mixture of soil and other material within the soil horizons or on the soil surface affect the physical and ...

Madagascar is well-known for the exceptional biodiversity of its macro-flora and fauna, but the biodiversity of Malagasy microbial communities remains relatively unexplored. Understanding patterns of bacterial diversity in soil and their correlations with above-ground botanical diversity could influence conservation planning as well as sampling strategies to maximize access to bacterially deriv...

We tested the hypotheses that management of the soil food web in the fall would enhance grazing on bacteria and fungi by microbivorous nematodes in the spring, consequently increasing N availability in cover-crop driven organic and low-input farming systems. The food web was manipulated by irrigating the dry soil of late summer and/or providing carbon sources. By creating conditions conducive f...

In this study, faunal analysis of nematode communities in an aquic brown soil (silty loam Hapli-Udic Cambosols in Chinese Soil Taxonomy) of Northeast China was conducted through a single wheat growth season, aimed to assess nematode faunal response to the application of slow-release urea fertiliser. Three treatments (conventional urea CU, slow-release urea SRU and control NU) were installed, an...

Nitrogen is quantitatively the most important nutrient that plants acquire from the soil. It is well established that plant roots take up nitrogen compounds of low molecular mass, including ammonium, nitrate, and amino acids. However, in the soil of natural ecosystems, nitrogen occurs predominantly as proteins. This complex organic form of nitrogen is considered to be not directly available to ...

A species of sea anemone found in shallow water areas of southern Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, but never before reported from Hawaii, is described. It is identified as Actiniogeton sesere, previously recorded and described from the Torres Straits (Haddon and Shackleton 1893). HAWAII'S COELENTERATE FAUNA is poorly known and is in need of serious study. As I have discussed elsewhere (Dunn 1974), the single...