The diversity of soil communities, the ?poor man's tropical rainforest?

Literature on soil community biodiversity is reviewed. Factors that influence the biodiversity of soil communities, particularly animal species, are discussed. Such factors include diversity of food resources, trophic specialization, habitat heterogeneity in space and time, niche dynamics, soil prod...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biodiversity and conservation 1996-02, Vol.5 (2), p.135-168
Main Author: Giller, Paul S.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Literature on soil community biodiversity is reviewed. Factors that influence the biodiversity of soil communities, particularly animal species, are discussed. Such factors include diversity of food resources, trophic specialization, habitat heterogeneity in space and time, niche dynamics, soil productivity, disturbance, and aggregation. The effect of various spatial scales on soil biodiversity measurement also is considered. The relationship between the sizes of soil organisms and the spatial heterogeneity of the soil suggests that a large
ISSN:0960-3115
1572-9710
DOI:10.1007/bf00055827