Spatio-temporal heterogeneity differently drives the diversity of various trophic guilds of mesofauna in semi-arid oak f
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Spatio‑temporal heterogeneity differently drives the diversity of various trophic guilds of mesofauna in semi‑arid oak forests Mehdi Heydari1 · Parasto Eslaminejad1 · Fatemeh Valizadeh Kakhki2 · Majid Mirab‑balou3 · Reza Omidipour4 · Demetrio Antonio Zema5 · Chen Ma6 · Manuel Esteban Lucas‑Borja7 Received: 2 May 2020 / Accepted: 19 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Despite the importance of mesofauna in soil formation, litter decomposition, biological cycles and growth of plants for semi-arid forest ecosystems, the effects of different woody species and seasonality on the abundance, diversity and composition of mesofauna invertebrates have been little studied. This study has evaluated the effects of woody species (trees and shrubs) on trophic guilds of abundance, diversity and composition of soil mesofauna (detritivores vs. predators) during spring and winter seasons. Moreover, the basic drivers, including microclimatic characteristics and soil properties, of abundance, diversity and composition of soil biota have been identified in semi-arid deciduous broadleaved forests. Woody species types and seasonality affected soil mesofauna abundance, diversity and composition (non-metric multidimensional scaling; NMDS). All the species were present during spring and winter and in all types of woody species, but the mesofauna abundance, diversity and composition were differently influenced by the season and woody cover. Predator abundance was affected by both species and seasonality, whereas detritivore abundance was only influenced by woody species. Detritivore and predator diversity was affected by woody species and seasonality, but not by the interaction of both factors. It has been also demonstrated that the understory of trees is more important as biodiversity hotspot for mesofauna activity compared to shrubs; moreover, the mesofauna composition (detritivores vs. predators) is driven by the seasonality and woody species. Overall, this work has demonstrated that plants and soil organisms are strictly linked to each other and aboveground and belowground communities can be powerful mutual drivers. Graphic abstract
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Spatio-temporal heterogeneity differently drive the diversity of various trophic guilds of mesofauna in semi-arid oak forests
The soil mesofauna is described by having a body size between 100 μm and 2 mm.
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Keywords Shrub · Tree · Soil detritivores · Soil predators · Abundance · Composition · Diversity Communicated by Arthur Gessler. Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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Introduction The living soil (soil biota) contains a very high diversity of organisms, including microorganisms (i.e., bacteria, fungi) and microscopic and macroscopic fauna (Bardgett and Van Der Putten 2014; Balestrini et al. 2015). The soil fauna includes macrofauna (having a body size > 2 mm), mesofauna (body size between 100 μm and 2 mm) and microfauna (
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