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Impact of climate change on soil biodiversity- A

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Agri. Reviews, 33 (4) : 283-292, 2012 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICA
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IMPACT OF CLIMA
IMPACT TE CHANGE ON SOIL BIODIVERSITY
CLIMATE BIODIVERSITY-- A REVIEW
Asit Mandal* and Neenu S.
Indian Institute of Soil Science,
Nabi Bagh, Berasia Road , Bhopal-462 038, India
Received: 15-03-2012 Accepted: 19-11-2012
ABSTRACT
Global climate change can have significant impacts on all the soil biodiversity and related services.
These impacts can be directly or indirectly linked to the alteration of the climatic parameters (e.g.
temperature, humidity). Soil biodiversity is more extensive than any other environment on the
globe when all living forms are considered. The soil biota contains representations of all groups of
microorganism like fungi, bacteria, algae and viruses, as well as the microfauna such as protozoa and
nematodes. T oday
oday,, disturbance rregimes
Today egimes ar e changing drastically under the combined effects of climate
are
change, biological invasions and dir ect human modifications of the environment. However
direct However,, it rremains
emains
very difficult to assess and predict how soil communities will respond to these disturbances.
Environmental variability is an integral part of the dynamics of ecosystems, and some disturbances
are unavoidable. Climate change may intensify these seasonal disturbances, stretching the limits
more towards those of extreme events.

Key words
words: Climate change, Soil biodiversity, Soil ecology, Green house gas.

1. What is soil biodiversity

biodiversity??
Biodiversity is defined as “the variability
among living organisms from all sources including,
inter alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic
ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which
they are part; this includes diversity within species,
between species, and of ecosystems”. Functional
diversity describes the biological role of species or
groups of species in an ecosystem.
Soil biodiversity is often used as a synonym
for a number of heterotrophic species below-ground
(Hooper et al., 2005) which makes it unfeasible in
many ecological studies as it contributes little
information about their role in ecosystem function.
Biological activity is largely concentrated in the upper
layer of soil. The biological components occupy a
tiny fraction (<0.5%) of the total soil volume and
make less than 10% of the total soil organic matter.
Soil microorganisms are responsible for a large part
of biological activity (60- 80%) which is associated
with processes regulating nutrient cycles and
decomposition of organic residues.
Soil biodiversity refers to all organisms living
in the soil. One approach to classify soil organisms
*Corresponding author’ e-mail: asit.iari@gmail.com
is using their body size as the main criterion: micro-
organisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi), micro-fauna (e.g.
protozoa, nematodes), meso-fauna ( e.g. acari,
springtails, enchytraeids) and macrofauna (e.g.
insects, earthworms) (Wallwork, 1970; Swift et al.,
1979). In another approach, the bacteria, fungi, and
microbial biomass were defined as detritivores;
collembola were defined as primarily fungivores
(Hunt et al., 1987; Chen et al., 1996; Briones et al.,
1999), and protozoa were defined as bacterivores
(Ingham et al., 1986; Hunt et al., 1987). Regarding
the preferred living environment, aboveground (e.g.
foraging on top of the ground or inside the litter/fine
woody debris layer) and belowground specialists can
be distinguished.
Soil warming can alter the soil fauna
community by leading to changes in the abundance
and composition of soil bacteria and fungi, and
influencing plant physiology and community
structure. Soil mesofauna are also particularly
sensitive to environmental changes, and therefore
thought to be an excellent bioindicator (Hopkin,
1997; Jucevica and Melecis, 2006; Xu et al., 2009).
Environmental changes, such as changes in
284 AGRICULTURAL REVIEWS
precipitation and air temperature, are likely to lead
to changes in the mesofauna and could alter
belowground biological processes, with potential
consequences for ecosystem functions.
1.1. Soil organisms and ecological function
Soil organisms contribute a wide range of
essential services to the sustainable function of all
ecosystems, by acting as the primary driving agents
of nutrient cycles, regulating the dynamics of soil
organic matter, soil carbon sequestration and
greenhouse gas emission; modifying soil physical
properties and water regimes, enhancing the amount
and efficiency of nutrient acquisition by the
vegetation and enhancing plant health. Soil
organisms interact in a soil food web, where each
trophic level serves as food for the next trophic level.
In general a soil food web is based on the
degradation of roots and dead organic material
(detritus). The stability of the performance of an
ecological function is dependent on the stability of
the soil food web. Soil microorganisms perform a
wide range of functions: they decompose organic
matter, release nutrients into plant-available forms
and degrade toxic residues; they also form symbiotic
associations with plant roots, act as antagonists to
pathogens, influence the weathering and
solubilisation of minerals and contribute to soil
structure and aggregation. The time-table of
microbial metabolism is meaningful for human
interference with turnover rates in soil typically being
0.2-6 years for the soil microbial biomass compared
to > 40 years for the bulk of organic matter.
Soil biodiversity is therefore known to play
a very important role within the global system, and
ongoing research continues to highlight this point.
1.1.1. Nutrient cycling
Carbon cycle: One of the most widely important
nutrient cycles in recent times is the carbon cycle
because of its relation to the theory of climate change.
The carbon cycle occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2)
is fixed into organic form through the process of
photosynthesis. Plants are most well-known for
performing this process, but a range of microbial
organisms including algae, cyanobacteria and some
other forms of bacteria are also capable of
photosynthesis. In the carbon cycle, this fixed carbon
can move up through trophic levels as photosynthetic
organisms, or “primary producers”, are grazed upon
by “primary consumers” such as herbivores, and
these in turn can be predated by “secondary
consumers” and so on.
Nitrogen cycle: The nitrogen cycle depends heavily
on the soil biota. Gaseous nitrogen is not able to be
utilised by majority of the organisms on earth,
including plants. It requires ‘fixing’ by free living
microbes such as cyanobacteria and various genera
of bacteria and actinomycetes, or by symbiotic
microbes such as Rhizobium which form root
nodules in legumes. This nitrogen fixation process
converts gaseous nitrogen into ammonia which can
be utilized by plants or a large fraction of this
ammonia is also converted into other plant available
forms first into nitrite (NO2-) and then into nitrate
(NO3-). Conversion of nitrogen products such as
nitrates and nitrites back to nitrogen gas occurs
through a process known as denitrification. This
process occurs in anaerobic conditions where
bacteria use nitrogen, due to the absence of oxygen,
for anaerobic respiration. The nitrogen cycle has very
important agricultural and environmental
implications as it affects soil fertility, due to the fact
that nitrogen is often the limiting nutrient for crop
growth, and it can also be a source of the green
house gas N2O.
Sulfur Cycle
Cycle: Sulfur is a constituent of vitamins and
essential metabolites and it occurs in two amino
acids, cysteine and methionine. In spite of its
rareness in cells, it is an absolutely essential element
for living systems. Like nitrogen and carbon, the
microbes can transform sulfur from its most oxidized
form (sulfate or SO4) to its most reduced state (sulfide
or H2S). The sulfur cycle involves some unique
groups of procaryotes and their processes. Two
unrelated groups of procaryotes oxidize H2S to S
and S to SO 4. The first is the anoxygenic
photosynthetic purple and green sulfur bacteria that
oxidize H 2S as a source of electrons for cyclic
photophosphorylation. The second is the “colourless
sulfur bacteria” which oxidize H2S and S as sources
of energy.
Since SO4 and S may be used as electron
acceptors for respiration, sulfate reducing bacteria
produce H 2 S during a process of anaerobic
respiration analogous to denitrification. The process
results in the distinctive odour of H2S in anaerobic
bogs, soils and sediments where it occurs. Sulfur is
 Vol. 33, No. 4, 2012
assimilated by bacteria and plants as SO4 for use
and reduction to sulfide.
1.1.2. Soil formation and weathering
Soil forming processes occur as part of a
complex feedback cycle between the mineral fraction
of soils, the environment, and the biota within the
soil system. Weathering is the primary source of
essential elements for organisms within the soil
system, with the exception of nitrogen and carbon.
Feedback cycles exist between the soil biota and the
weathering process whereby, as weathering occurs,
essential elements are released, aiding growth within
the soil biota. This in turn adds to the weathering
process as the soil biota increases weathering rates.
Fungi, particularly saprotrophic and mutualistic
fungi, have been shown to increase rates of mineral
weathering and are thought to be important in
weathering at ecological and evolutionary time scales
(Hoffland et al., 2004), and hence influence several
nutrient cycles within the soil system. Weathering
has also been shown to be accelerated by
earthworms, including evidence of the
transformation of smectite to illite (Carpenter et al.,
2007). This highlights the critical role that soil
organisms play within soil formation processes.
1.1.3 Waste rrecycling
ecycling
Saprotrophic organisms/decomposers, use
dead organisms, or dead parts of organisms such
as leaves, and carry out the process of
decomposition. This is a heterotrophic process
whereby the saprotrophs get their energy and
nutrients from organic substrates. The primary
decomposers are bacteria and fungi although some
soil invertebrates such as earthworms also act as
decomposers. Other soil invertebrates such as
millipedes and collembolan are often mistakenly
referred as decomposers. These are more accurately
called detritivores as they are not able to digest the
wide range of compounds that fungi and bacteria
are capable of digesting. Bacteria are generally the
primary decomposers of dead organisms and fungi
are generally the primary decomposers of plant litter.
1.2. Causes of Soil Biodiversity
Soils show evidence of a high degree of
spatial heterogeneity, both vertically and horizontally.
Soil properties can vary within fields as well as across
the fields. If we consider soil at the microscopic scale,
the spatial heterogeneity is augmented further. Soil
285
is a complex network of pores ranging in size from
0.2 microns to 2mm. Many of the microorganisms
are protected from predation in pores with a diameter
of 2-100 microns. Many of the important chemical
and physical properties of soil, such as pH and
oxygen status, can vary over a short distance. By
means of linking the spatial heterogeneity of potential
living spaces with the diversity of food and energy
sources available, that are also subjected to temporal
variation in moisture and temperature, it is not hard
to imagine that there is a place for all types of
organisms.
2. What is climate change?
Climate change refers to a statistically
significant variation in either the mean state of the
climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended
period (typically decades or longer). Climate change
may be due to natural internal processes or external
forcing or to persistent anthropogenic changes in
the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.
2.1 Causes and effect of climate change?
The occurrence of green house gases in the
atmosphere is a natural component of the climate
system and helps to maintain the Earth as a habitable
planet. Greenhouse gases are relatively transparent
to incoming solar radiation, allowing the sun’s
energy to pass through the atmosphere to the surface
of the earth. The energy is then absorbed by the
earth’s surface, used in processes like
photosynthesis, or emitted back to space as infrared
radiation. Some of the emitted radiation passes
through the atmosphere and travels back to space,
but some is absorbed by greenhouse gas molecules
and then re-emitted in all directions. The effect of
this is to warm the earth’s surface and the lower
atmosphere. Water vapour (H 2O) and carbon
dioxide (CO2) are the two largest contributors to the
greenhouse effect. Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide
(N 2O), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other
greenhouse gases are present only in trace amounts,
but can still have a powerful warming effect due to
their heat-trapping abilities and longer residence time
in the atmosphere. Without the greenhouse effect,
Earth’s average temperature would be -0.4°F (-
18°C), rather than the present 59°F (15°C).
2.2. Effect of climate change on soil
environment
Today, disturbance regimes are changing
drastically under the combined effects of climate
286 AGRICULTURAL REVIEWS
change and biological invasions. Abiotic regulations
by climate are large scale determinants of microbial
activities. The overall effect of climate on soil
microorganisms can be perceived through the
seasonal dynamics of microbial populations. These
dynamics are due to the fact that growth, activity
and composition of microbial communities are
susceptible to the two main factors regulated by
climate: temperature and moisture. Growth and
activity rates are individual characteristics of
microbial communities and may vary independently.
In general, a rise in atmospheric temperature
corresponds to a rise in microbial activity. Changing
soil temperature will likely alter microbial mediated
nitrification and denitriûcation dynamics in soil
environment due to shift of nitrifiers and denitrifiers
population. Sometimes perturbations in the soil
environment could lead to community shifts and
altered metabolic activity in microorganisms
involved in soil nutrient cycling, and to increasing
or decreasing survival and virulence of soil mediated
pathogenic microorganisms like Salmonella
typhimurium. Thus typically, microbial growth and
activity generally decrease in winter time, due to the
decreased temperature. Extremely high
temperatures, in general, are deleterious for many
microorganisms. Indeed, some species of chemical
engineers may survive such adverse conditions by
entering survival inactive forms, which may resist
high temperatures better than active individuals. It
is worth highlighting that actually much uncertainty
exists about how reactive different microbial groups
(and fauna) are to temperature. The seasonal
changes observed in soil microbial activity are also
often associated to modifications in microbe’s
community composition.
3. Soil biodiversity and climate change
The overall effect of climate on soil
microorganisms can be perceived through the
seasonal dynamics of microbial populations. These
dynamics are due to the fact that growth, activity
and composition of microbial communities are
sensitive to the two main factors regulated by climate:
temperature and moisture. Growth and activity rates
are individual characteristics of microbial
communities and may vary independently. This
means that climatic conditions favouring a high level
of microbial activity do not always facilitate a high
microbial growth and associated increased biomass.
In general, a rise in atmospheric temperature
corresponds to a rise in microbial activity. Thus
typically, microbial growth and activity generally
decrease in winter time, due to the decreased
temperature. However, such expected seasonal
dynamics may change in specific soil ecosystems,
e.g. in tundra soils, microbial biomass is at its
maximum in late winter time when temperature is
low (Schadt et al., 2003). Thus, even if there is in
general a positive correlation between temperature
and microbial growth and activity, responses to
temperature can also depend on the species of
chemical engineers present in the microbial
community and on the considered temperature
range. Extremely high temperatures, in general, are
deleterious for many microorganisms. A long term
increase in temperature, observed under climate
change has been shown to influence soil microbial
respiration. The respiration of soil microbes is an
important factor modulating the overall organic
matter decomposition and thus the carbon storage
process. The more respiration is efficient, the more
organic matter is decomposed with in parallel, a
release of CO2. In any case, the optimal climatic
conditions for enzymatic activity of microbes always
vary locally, depending on the specific species
assemblage in the considered geographical area (De
Santo et al., 1993). In addition to temperature, the
soil moisture and the frequency of wet/dry and freeze/
thaw cycles can modify the soil aggregation and have
potential important impacts on the availability of
organic matter and, as a consequence, on the
microbial community structure and activity.
Temperature and moisture are also important
determinant of biological regulators community
structure and functioning. The main effects have been
observed on nematodes and microarthropods, and
are extremely important to estimate the impact of
average temperature increase, due to climate change
or other more local impacts, such as fires. The
sensitivity of nematodes to temperature and soil
moisture (Ruess et al ., 1999; Hoschitz and
Kaufmann, 2004) depends on their metabolic state.
This class of organisms has a different strategy of
survival in extreme environmental conditions and
can form cysts or enter dormant stages allowing them
to survive to the most extreme soil temperature and
moisture changes (Wall and Virginia, 1999;
 Vol. 33, No. 4, 2012
McSorley, 2003). In a meta-analysis study
Blankinship (2011) concluded that increasing
precipitation generally favoured the fungal
component of the soil food web, and CO2 enrichment
favored the bacterial component.
Soil moisture can have both direct and
indirect impacts on chemical engineers. Soil moisture
directly influences the physiological status of bacteria
(Harris, 1980) and may limit their capacity to
decompose various types of organic compounds.
The soil moisture values for an optimal microbial
activity vary depending on the basis of soil type and
microbial community composition (Prado, 1999).
Soil moisture also indirectly influences microbial
community growth, activity, and composition
through the modification of the quality and the
quantity of plant litter production. This can affect
plant-microbes and engineers-microbes interactions.
Variations in soil temperature and moisture
can have strong direct impacts on chemical engineers
and indirect impacts through influencing the plant-
microbe interactions in the rhizosphere or soil
properties (Dijkstra and Cheng, 2007).
The effects of high temperatures and
droughts on nematodes are mainly dependent on
how they influence soil moisture. In particular, the
thickness of water films on soil aggregates surface is
a key regulating factor. The sensitivity to soil moisture
is of course dependent on the considered
biogeographical zone and on the original
hydrological conditions. In arid ecosystems such as
deserts, nematode survival is highly dependent on
soil moisture, while in temperate zones ( e.g.
temperate grasslands) their survival is unlikely to be
at stake, unless soils dry out completely
(Papatheodorou et al., 2004; Strong et al., 2004).
Harte et al. (1996) found that warming increased
micro arthropod abundance and biomass only under
wet conditions, but not under dry conditions.
Temperature and soil moisture are two of
the most important abiotic factors regulating the
biology of microarthropods (springtails and mites)
and influencing the seasonal patterns of their
population abundance (Cassagne et al., 2003; Roy
and Roy, 2006). The optimum average temperature
for survival is just above 20°C while the higher limit
is around 50°C (Vannier, 1994). In general, species
287
that live on the litter surface can tolerate higher
temperatures than species living further down in the
soil. Most springtails and mites have been reported
to have their lethal temperature limits quite high,
between 35 and 40 °C (Choudhuri, 1963). Of
course, species living in warm areas have a higher
resistance to high temperature as compared to
species living in temperate and cold areas.
Temperature can also influence both springtails
development (through degrees days) and
reproduction rates with important impacts on
population growth (Diekkruger and Roske, 1995;
Choi and Ryoo, 2003). Closely related
microarthropods species can differ in temperature
tolerance and soil moisture sensitivity; each species
seems to require quite specific temperature and
moisture conditions (Christiansen, 1964). In
addition, thermo-tolerance varies depending on the
developmental stages (Chown and Nicolson, 2004).
Thus, when evaluating the impacts of climate
variability on this functional group, the eventual
difference in temperature and soil moisture sensitivity
of different species should be considered for mature,
as well as for the previous developmental juvenile
stages.
Changes of climatic parameters such as
different atmospheric CO2 concentration (ambient,
300 ppm), temperature (ambient, 3°C), and
precipitation (wet and dry) interact to alter soil
bacterial and fungal abundance and community
structure in an old-field ecosystem (Castro et al.,
2009). The fungal abundance increased in warmed
treatments, bacterial abundance increased in
warmed plots with elevated atmospheric (CO2) but
decreased in warmed plots under ambient
atmospheric (CO2). The changes in precipitation
altered the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and
Acidobacteria, where Acidobacteria decreased with
a concomitant increase in the Proteobacteria in wet
relative to dry treatments.
Climate can strongly influence the physiology
of earthworms, through altering the soil temperature
and moisture. Several studies report a seasonal
variation in the growth and activity of earthworms
in response to changes in temperature and soil
moisture. Earthworms often lose weight, increase
their burrowing activity, or enter into quiescence or
diapause when soils are too dry (Booth et al., 2000;
288 AGRICULTURAL REVIEWS
Holmstrup, 2001). In contrast, growth is favoured
in soils with high levels of moisture and high
temperatures. In the case of Lumbricus terrestris,
the optimum temperature and soil water potential
for food consumption are about 22°C and 7 kPa,
respectively. These results suggest limited burrowing
and more intensive feeding in wet soils, through a
greater consumption of soil and organic substances,
while slightly drier, non-compacted soils favour
tunnelling and exploration in the soil profile (Bolton
and Phillipson, 1976; Scheu, 1987; Daniel, 1991).
The abundance of most collembola, including
Hypogastrura tullbergi, Lepidocyrtus lignorum and
Isotoma anglicana, tended to reduce with warming
(Dollery et al., 2006). Only minor changes in the
soil fauna occurred at higher temperatures, even after
6 years of elevated temperature treatment (Haimi et
al., 2005).
3.1. Impact of soil biodiversity on Co2
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the main
greenhouse gases (GHG) contributing to global
warming. In addition to CO2, soil biota can also
control fluxes of other GHGs, such as methane
(CH4), which is produced during the carbon cycle,
and nitrous oxide (N2O) which is produced as part
of the nitrogen cycling. While these gases represent
much smaller fluxes than those of CO2, they are much
more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse
gas (21 times and 310 times, respectively).This
process, together with the GHG released by human
activity, contributes to global warming. Thus, through
their capacity to stock carbon, soils can act as a
buffer compartment in a context of climate change.
A good carbon storage capacity of soils could be
one of the tools for climate change mitigation,
especially because of its immediate and low cost
availability. However, the limited magnitude of its
effect and especially its potential reversibility, for
example due to converting grassland into arable
land, should be kept in mind (Schils et al., 2008).
Moreover, the soil carbon pool is itself susceptible to
warming, causing enhanced carbon loss to
atmosphere and carbon cycle feedback (Huntingford
et al., 2000). The feedback between soil carbon and
atmospheric CO2 is a process which is still not fully
understood. However, it is generally accepted that
the soil biota plays the dominant part in this
interaction. Soil biological processes therefore can
clearly have a large effect on the global carbon cycle.
An increase in atmospheric CO2 may be one
of the effects of climate change, can significantly
change soil environment mainly by modifying the
distribution of above and belowground nutrients. For
example, an increase of atmospheric CO2 could lead
to an increased plant growth, since CO 2 is the
molecular building block for photosynthesis. This may
lead to an increase in litter production rate and a
modification in litter chemical composition, which
may in turn lead to a change in its digestibility. Such
modifications will then influence the nature of organic
matter available for soil microorganisms (Zak et al.,
2000). As a consequence, a modified litter
production may modify the overall carbon supply
and the nitrogen flow between plants and
microorganisms (Berntson and Bazzaz, 1997). In
addition, elevated CO2 may lead to an increased
root growth which will have a significant impact on
soil structure and major consequences for soil biota.
3.2. Impact of Soil biodiversity on other green
house gases
Methane (CH4) production also occurs as a
part of the carbon cycle. It is produced under
anaerobic condition by the action of micro biota.
Methane is about 21 times more potent as a
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide
(N2O) is produced as a part of the nitrogen cycle
through different processes (nitrification and
denitrification) which is also carried out by the soil
micro biota. Nitrous oxide is 310 times more potent
as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Of the
totals emitted, 80% of N2O and 50% of CH4 emitted
from are produced by soil processes in managed
ecosystems. Since these gases are more potent
greenhouse gases than
FIG. 1: Relative contributions of different green house gases
to global warming (Source: US EPA Inventory of Greenhouse
Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2010).
 Vol. 33, No. 4, 2012
CO2, only approximately 8% of emitted
greenhouse gases are CH4 and only 5% are N2O,
with CO2 making up approximately 83% of the total
greenhouse gases emitted.
The actual percentage contribution of these
gases to global warming can be seen in the Figure 1.
2.3. Mitigation strategies
Soil management practices have important
and sometimes immediate effects on soil biodiversity
and the resulting ecosystem services. The main
mechanism explaining the changes in soil
biodiversity with increased intensification of
management practices is linked to organic matter
input.
Organic matter drives the soil food web, and
depending on the type, it will drive bacteria- (low C:
N) or fungi- (high C: N) dominated food webs.
Greater litter inputs in grasslands encourage fungal-
dominated microbial communities (Bardgett et al.,
1997), and a greater diversity of nematodes
(Wasilewska, 1994; Bardgett et al., 1997) and micro
arthropods (Siepel, 1996). The enhanced microbial
activity may also enhance the biological regulators,
and thus reduce nematode and soil pathogen
incidence (Freckman, 1988; Griffiths et al., 1994).
In contrast, in intensively managed (fertilized)
grasslands or croplands, microbial communities are
depressed (Lovell et al ., 1995) and shift to
opportunistic bacteria-dominated communities
(Bardgett et al., 1993; Bardgett and Leemans, 1996).
In turn, this tends to favour opportunistic bacteria-
feeding fauna.
Soil tillage practices disturb fungal hyphae
and the larger earthworm species that visit the soil
surface to obtain plant material for food, such as
anecic earthworms (Emmerling et al ., 2002).
Biomass and abundance of anecic earthworms are
reduced by a factor of 1.3-3 in conventionally
managed soils when compared to organic
management types (Pfiffner and Mader, 1997;
Siegrist et al ., 1998; Maeder et al ., 2002).
Conventional management also results in poorer soil
aeration and soil drainage.
Some methods to protect Soil Biodiversity are
1. Mulching / light soil sealing
Mulching consists of covering the soil surface
to protect against erosion and to enhance its fertility.
289
Mulch is usually applied towards the beginning of
the crop growing season, and may be reapplied as
necessary. It serves initially to warm the soil by
helping it retain heat and moisture. A variety of
materials can be used as mulch, including organic
residues (e.g. crop residue, hay, bark), but also
manure, sewage sludge, compost, rubber or plastic
films.
2. Application of organic residues (compost/
manure/ sludge)
Application of animal manure, sludge or
other carbon-rich wastes, such as coffee-berry pulp
or compost, improves the organic matter content of
the soil. For agricultural purpose, it is usually better
to allow decomposition of organic residues for a
period before applying them to the field. This is
because addition of carbon-rich compounds
immobilises available N in the soil temporarily, as
micro-organisms need both C and N for their growth
and development.
3. F er
Fer tilizers
ertilizers
High levels of some inorganic nitrogenous fertilizers
provide microbes with easy to use nitrogen, thereby
boosting their activity. This increases the rate of
decomposition of low quality organic inputs and soil
organic matter, resulting in the continuing decline of
soil organic matter content which, ultimately, results
in loss of soil structure and water holding capacity.
4. Crop management
4a. Choice of the crops species
The choice of the cultivated crop is important
as it defines the kind of habitat available to soil fauna.
For example legumes can act as natural fertilisers,
improving the nitrogen concentration in soil, thanks
to the symbiotic relationship they establish with
Rhizobia.
4b. Crop rotations
Crop rotations can also help avoid the build-
up of pathogens and pests, as the alternation of crops
modifies the associated communities of biological
regulators.
5. Landscape management
5a. Hedgerows and grassy field margins
Establishing hedgerows or grassy strips at
the edge of arable fields offer a stable habitat, food,
and a protective environment for soil fauna next to
the intensively managed fields. Hedgerows are even
290 AGRICULTURAL REVIEWS
more favourable to soil organisms, in particular III. Research on the impacts of land-use changes
biological regulators, than grassy field margins, taking into account the surrounding landscape
however, due to their low mobility; the soil organisms IV. Research on the sensitivity of decomposition rate
will have only limited dispersal into the fields. That to humidity.
also counts for field margins, in which 10% of the CONCL USION
CONCLUSION
soil dwelling species present in farmland were found Climate change is likely to have significant
to occur exclusively. impacts on soils that may affect all of the services
1. Futur e rresear
uture esearch strategies.
esearch provided by soil biodiversity; indeed the
I. Impacts of climate change on soil ecosystems, quantification of these impacts is needed. In any
biodiversity and related functions, including impacts case, all mitigation and attenuation measures
of altered precipitation rate, not limited to taken to limit global climate change are expected
temperature. to have a beneficial impact on soil biodiversity
II. More research on the impacts of threats on soil preservation, soil functioning and associated
functions and the services delivery. services.
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