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Invertebrates as determinants and indicators of soil quality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Nigel E. Stork  and
Paul Eggleton
Nigel E. Stork
Affiliation:
Biodiversity Division, Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
Paul Eggleton
Affiliation:
Biodiversity Division, Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
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Abstract

Invertebrates are an integral part of soils and are important in determining the suitability of soils for the sustainable production of healthy crops or trees. We discuss the importance of the soil invertebrate fauna in relation to terrestrial habitats and global biodiversity as we understand it. We describe the role of the main invertebrate groups in soils, including earthworms, termites, springtails, and nematodes, and how they determine soil quality. Practical problems in dealing with the invertebrate fauna include sampling, taxonomy and availability of biological information on species. Various measures are available that use invertebrates to assess soil quality, each with its advantages and disadvantages. They include abundance, biomass, density, species richness, trophic/guild structure, food web structure, keystone species and ecosystem engineers. We propose the three most useful and practical of these as suitable to be combined with other biological (microbial) and non-biological (hydrological, physical, chemical) criteria into a single index of soil quality that might be used on a regional, if not international basis.

Keywords

biodiversitysoil invertebratesspecies richnesskeystone speciesearthwormsspringtailsnematodestermites
Type
Articles
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American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 7 , Issue 1-2: Special Issue on Soil Quality , June 1992 , pp. 38 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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