Linking food webs to ecosystem processes: Piecewise linear models of soil microcosms

Abstract A piecewise linear approach to link decomposer biomass and soil nitrogen dynamics is proposed. Dynamics of a detritus–fungus–nematode food chain were studied in a microcosm experiment and modelled to evaluate the role of fungal-feeding nematodes in N mineralization. The nematode dynamics switched from exponential growth to a resource-limited phase. At the same time the amount of ammonium nitrogen in soil started to increase, following an initial immobilization phase. Both nematode and ammonium dynamics could be described by two-phase linear equations. Two nitrogen models were compared. A model in which the nematode accounted for all mineralization could be fitted to the ammonium da…

Enchytraeid population dynamics: Resource limitation and size-dependent mortality

Abstract Enchytraeids are regarded as keystone soil organisms in forest ecosystems. Their abundance and biomass fluctuate widely. Predicting the consequences of anthropogenic disturbances requires an understanding of the mechanisms underlying enchytraeid population dynamics. Here I develop a simple model, which predicts that the type of dynamics is controlled by resource input rate. If fungal resource input is a discrete event once a year, an exponential growth phase is followed by starvation and sharp decline of enchytraeid abundance. Model simulations with three different forcing functions were compared to field data. Initial parameter values were obtained from various independent sources…

Influence of carbon and nutrient additions on a decomposer food chain and the growth of pine seedlings in microcosms

Abstract Because of N deposition plant production is becoming increasingly limited by other nutrients in boreal forests. At the same time more C is suggested to become available for below-ground food webs because of enhanced CO2 fixation. We studied the effects of carbon and nutrient addition on a fungus–nematode food chain and on the growth of mycorrhizal or nonmycorrhizal pine seedlings (Pinus sylvestris L.) in microcosms with N-rich mineral soil and a humus layer. The role of the food chain and mycorrhizal fungi for pine growth was tested in a smaller set-up. The total pine biomass was not N-limited at the scale of two experimental growing seasons. In accordance with established knowledg…

Labile carbon alleviates wood ash effects on soil fauna

The combined effects of wood ash, sucrose and oxalic acid on enchytraeid size and biomass, the abundance of microbial-feeding nematodes and pH were studied in a full three-factorial design in laboratory microcosms containing 30 g of Norway spruce forest humus. Wood ash treatment reduced enchytraeid size and abundance, but these effects were offset by sucrose without any change in pH or moisture. The positive effects of sucrose were partially counteracted by oxalic acid. Both carbon compounds increased the abundance of obligate microbial-feeding nematodes, indicating enhanced microbial production.

Spot mounding and granulated wood ash increase inorganic N availability and alter key components of the soil food web in clear-cut Norway spruce forests

Abstract The interactive effects of site preparation (spot mounding) and fertilization (granulated wood ash) on soil properties, soil micro- and mesofauna and ground vegetation were studied in two Norway spruce plantations established in clear-cut forests in Central Finland. Half of the seedlings were planted on mounds created by the planting machine, and the rest on intact forest floor. Half of the seedlings on mounded and intact forest floor were fertilized by adding granulated wood ash to circular plots surrounding the seedlings. Initial samples were taken from mounded and intact soil immediately after planting in June. Samples were taken from all treated plots in the autumn in the first…

Dead-wood effects on enchytraeids and nematodes in thinned and unmanaged Norway spruce forests

Abstract The effects of dead wood on enchytraeids and nematodes were studied in thinned and uncut Norway spruce forests in two experiments. Fifteen pairs of small spruce logs (one enclosed in polyethylene sheet and another untreated control) were returned to the forest floor in a complete randomized block design after thinning. Soil under the logs and at distances of 0–6 cm and 6–12 cm from each log was sampled after one growing season, and enchytraeids and nematodes were extracted and forest floor properties measured. Log enclosure increased enchytraeid length irrespective of the distance from the log. Soil moisture or pH were not affected by enclosure, but organic matter content was reduc…

Effects of sewage sludge addition to Norway spruce seedlings on nitrogen availability and soil fauna in clear-cut areas

Anaerobically digested and composted sewage sludge (CSS) has been suggested to be a slow-release fertilizer in forestry and an alternative to quick-release inorganic fertilizers. The effects of CSS with or without added carbohydrate on inorganic nitrogen availability and on soil animals were tested in two Norway spruce plantations. Half of the seedlings were individually fertilized with CSS, and the rest were left as controls. Solid sucrose was added to half of the fertilized and untreated seedlings. Soil samples were taken in the autumn in the first and the second year after the treatments. CSS increased soil NH4-N (2100%), the proportion of soil NO3-N, and the N concentration of spruce ne…

Is bad mathematics useless?

Wood Ash Effects on Soil Fauna and Interactions with Carbohydrate Supply: A Minireview

Wood ash effects on soil animals in a boreal forest ecosystem are reviewed focusing on recent results on interactive effects of wood ash and organic amendments, and laboratory microcosms as a tool to understand soil food webs are discussed. Loose wood ash can reduce the populations of enchytraeids, collembolans and mites, but increase nematode populations particularly in experimental laboratory ecosystems with little or no primary production. Recent studies indicate that the repressive effect on enchytraeids depends on carbon availability. Carbohydrate supply seemed to alleviate the negative wood ash effect on enchytraeid body size and abundance. The fact that carbon alleviated wood ash eff…

Soil animals and ecosystem processes: How much does nutrient cycling explain?

Summary Trophic-dynamic hypotheses have been extensively tested by manipulating the presence of soil animals in experimental laboratory microcosms. Soil animals typically have pronounced effects on microbial populations, nutrient cycling and plant growth. However, because often only the total effect has been reported, the relative importance of feeding interactions versus non-trophic effects remains obscure. Using simple calculations based on mass conservation I argue that the observed faunal effect on microbes and system functioning is often larger than can be explained by trophic dynamics and nutrient cycling. Non-trophic effects may help to explain why microcosm experiments have failed t…

Body size and population dynamics of enchytraeids with different disturbance histories and nutrient dynamics

The population dynamics of the enchytraeid Cognettia sphagnetorum originating from an unmanaged forest (FP), a clear-cut area (CCP) or a plot treated with birch ash (APP) and the effects of population origin on labile C and N dynamics were investigated. Twenty individuals of C. sphagnetorum were introduced in microcosms containing humus from the unmanaged forest devoid of enchytraeids and amended with sucrose, and incubated for 14 weeks. Triplicate microcosms from FP, CCP and APP treatments were destructively sampled every second week and enchytraeid population density, individual length, nematode abundance and trophic structure, humus properties and dissolved organic C (DOC) and N (DON), a…

Bacteria and microbial-feeders modify the performance of a decomposer fungus

Abstract We studied whether the presence of a bacterium can affect the functioning or stability of simple fungal-based decomposer food chains. We constructed microcosms with 60 g washed mineral soil and four different food webs: (1) a fungus (Cladosporium herbarum) alone; (2) a fungus and a fungal-feeding nematode (Aphelenchoides sp.); (3) a fungus and a bacterium (Escherichia coli); and (4) a fungus, a bacterium, a fungal- and a bacterial-feeding nematode (Aphelenchoides sp. and Acrobeloides tricornus). Glucose was supplied as the sole carbon source. One replicate set of microcosms was kept at −2°C for the sixth and seventh week as an experimental disturbance. The microcosms were destructi…

Modelling the interactions of soil microbes and nematodes

Abstract Six different soil food webs, assembled from a bacterium, a bacterial-feeding nematode, a fungus and a fungal-feeding nematode, were established in replicated laboratory microcosms. Glucose was supplied as the sole carbon source for the microbes. Biomasses of the organisms and the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were measured ten times during 20 weeks. A discrete dynamic model based on the material flow between system components was fitted to the experimental data. Bacterial-based food chains were largely inactive in the absence of fungi, but mutual facilitation was observed in the systems with both fungus and bacterium. The population dynamics of a fungal-feeding …