Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests
The consequences of land-use change for soil fauna communities and soil functionality are hard to quantify and poorly understood. Energy fluxes provide a quantitative framework to link soil food webs to ecosystem functions. Here, we examined topsoil fauna in a forest-agriculture matrix in North Pata...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Artículo |
| Language: | Inglés |
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Elsevier
2025
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/20810 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038071724003080 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109619 |
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| author | Pérez Roig, Camila Videla, Martin El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Potapov, Anton M. |
| author_browse | El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea Potapov, Anton M. Pérez Roig, Camila Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Videla, Martin |
| author_facet | Pérez Roig, Camila Videla, Martin El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Potapov, Anton M. |
| author_sort | Pérez Roig, Camila |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | The consequences of land-use change for soil fauna communities and soil functionality are hard to quantify and poorly understood. Energy fluxes provide a quantitative framework to link soil food webs to ecosystem functions. Here, we examined topsoil fauna in a forest-agriculture matrix in North Patagonia, Argentina, to assess the variation of soil food-web functioning across a gradient of land-use intensity. The sampled plots included reference forests, cattle grazing in forests, sheep grazing in meadows, perennial berry crops and seasonal vegetable crops. In each plot, we extracted soil fauna, measured their body sizes, estimated metabolic rates, and applied the soil food-web energy fluxes approach to assess associated trophic functions. Our findings revealed a greater total faunal biomass and energy flux in most land-use systems compared to native forests, while the number of interactions and the energetic inequality (unevenness in resource consumption) did not show a single pattern. Soil organic matter (SOM) consumption increased in sheep-grazed meadows and seasonal plots, while litter transformation decreased in the latter, and microbivory increased in most land-uses. The ratio between SOM consumption and faeces production, was greater in sheep-grazed meadows and seasonal plots, indicating a lower contribution to C sequestration by soil fauna. Herbivory and predation showed different patterns between seasons, but a reduced top-down herbivore control potential was found under sheep grazing. Overall, native and cattle-grazed forests showed lower energy fluxes but more balanced ecosystem functions. Perennial crops hosted more interactions and a similar potential for carbon storage and herbivore control as forests. In sheep-grazed meadows and seasonal crops, increased soil fauna biomass and energy flux were mainly reflected in higher SOM consumption. Our research shows how smallholder land-use choices result in different, often contrasting, effects on soil food-web structure and related functions, emphasizing the importance of human decisions for soil functional sustainability. |
| format | Artículo |
| id | INTA20810 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA208102025-01-02T13:31:22Z Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests Pérez Roig, Camila Videla, Martin El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Potapov, Anton M. Cambio de Uso de la Tierra Pequeños Agricultores Ecosistema Sostenibilidad Bosque Templado Macrobento Land-use Change Smallholders Ecosystems Sustainability Temperate Forests Macrobenthos Macrofauna The consequences of land-use change for soil fauna communities and soil functionality are hard to quantify and poorly understood. Energy fluxes provide a quantitative framework to link soil food webs to ecosystem functions. Here, we examined topsoil fauna in a forest-agriculture matrix in North Patagonia, Argentina, to assess the variation of soil food-web functioning across a gradient of land-use intensity. The sampled plots included reference forests, cattle grazing in forests, sheep grazing in meadows, perennial berry crops and seasonal vegetable crops. In each plot, we extracted soil fauna, measured their body sizes, estimated metabolic rates, and applied the soil food-web energy fluxes approach to assess associated trophic functions. Our findings revealed a greater total faunal biomass and energy flux in most land-use systems compared to native forests, while the number of interactions and the energetic inequality (unevenness in resource consumption) did not show a single pattern. Soil organic matter (SOM) consumption increased in sheep-grazed meadows and seasonal plots, while litter transformation decreased in the latter, and microbivory increased in most land-uses. The ratio between SOM consumption and faeces production, was greater in sheep-grazed meadows and seasonal plots, indicating a lower contribution to C sequestration by soil fauna. Herbivory and predation showed different patterns between seasons, but a reduced top-down herbivore control potential was found under sheep grazing. Overall, native and cattle-grazed forests showed lower energy fluxes but more balanced ecosystem functions. Perennial crops hosted more interactions and a similar potential for carbon storage and herbivore control as forests. In sheep-grazed meadows and seasonal crops, increased soil fauna biomass and energy flux were mainly reflected in higher SOM consumption. Our research shows how smallholder land-use choices result in different, often contrasting, effects on soil food-web structure and related functions, emphasizing the importance of human decisions for soil functional sustainability. EEA Bariloche Fil: Perez Roig, Camila. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: Perez Roig, Camila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: Perez Roig, Camila. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemania Fil: Videla, Martín. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV); Argentina Fil: Videla, Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV); Argentina Fil: El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB); Argentina Fil: Tittonell, Pablo Adrian. Groningen University. Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences; Países Bajos Fil: Potapov, Anton M. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemania Fil: Potapov, Anton M. Senckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz; Alemania Fil: Potapov, Anton M. TUD Dresden University of Technology. International Institute Zittau; Alemania 2025-01-02T13:27:42Z 2025-01-02T13:27:42Z 2025-01 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/20810 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038071724003080 0038-0717 1879-3428 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109619 eng info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PD-E2-I037-002, Biodiversidad edáfica: componente clave para una gestión integral y sustentable del recurso suelo info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PE-E1-I020-001, Desarrollo de criterios para diseño, monitoreo y evaluación de estrategias de intensificación sostenible de agroecosistemas, basadas en múltiples servicios ecosistémicos info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2023-PD-L03-I103, Enfoques y metodologías para el estudio, monitoreo y diseño de agroecosistemas orientados a la intensificación ecológica info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier Soil Biology and Biochemistry 200 : 109619. (January 2025) |
| spellingShingle | Cambio de Uso de la Tierra Pequeños Agricultores Ecosistema Sostenibilidad Bosque Templado Macrobento Land-use Change Smallholders Ecosystems Sustainability Temperate Forests Macrobenthos Macrofauna Pérez Roig, Camila Videla, Martin El Mujtar, Veronica Andrea Tittonell, Pablo Adrian Potapov, Anton M. Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests |
| title | Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests |
| title_full | Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests |
| title_fullStr | Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests |
| title_short | Soil food-web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land-use choices in temperate forests |
| title_sort | soil food web energy fluxes reveal diverse responses to smallholder land use choices in temperate forests |
| topic | Cambio de Uso de la Tierra Pequeños Agricultores Ecosistema Sostenibilidad Bosque Templado Macrobento Land-use Change Smallholders Ecosystems Sustainability Temperate Forests Macrobenthos Macrofauna |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/20810 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038071724003080 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2024.109619 |
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