TY - JOUR
T1 - Tropical terrestrial model ecosystems for evaluation of soil fauna and leaf litter quality effects on litter consumption, soil microbial biomass and plant growth
AU - Morgan, Edward
AU - Römbke, Jörg
AU - Förster, Bernhard
AU - Garcia, Marcos
AU - Höfer, Hubert
PY - 2009/8/1
Y1 - 2009/8/1
N2 - Abstract – The aim of this work was to evaluate whether terrestrial model ecosystems (TMEs) are a useful tool for the study of the effects of litter quality, soil invertebrates and mineral fertilizer on litter decomposition and plant growth under controlled conditions in the tropics. Forty-eight intact soil cores (17.5-cm diameter, 30-cm length) were taken out from an abandoned rubber plantation on Ferralsol soil (Latossolo Amarelo) in Central Amazonia, Brazil, and kept at 28°C in the laboratory during four months. Leaf litter of either Hevea paucifl ora (rubber tree), Flemingia macrophylla (a shrubby legume) or Brachiaria decumbens (a pasture grass) was put on top of each TME. Five specimens of either Pontoscolex corethrurus or Eisenia fetida (earthworms), Porcellionides pruinosus or Circoniscus ornatus (woodlice), and Trigoniulus corallinus (millipedes) were then added to the TMEs. Leaf litter type signifi cantly affected litter consumption, soil microbial biomass and nitrate concentration in the leachate of all TMEs, but had no measurable effect on the shoot biomass of rice seedlings planted in top soil taken from the TMEs. Feeding rates measured with bait lamina were signifi cantly higher in TMEs with the earthworm P. corethrurus and the woodlouse C. ornatus. TMEs are an appropriate tool to assess trophic interactions in tropical soil ecossistems under controlled laboratory conditions.
AB - Abstract – The aim of this work was to evaluate whether terrestrial model ecosystems (TMEs) are a useful tool for the study of the effects of litter quality, soil invertebrates and mineral fertilizer on litter decomposition and plant growth under controlled conditions in the tropics. Forty-eight intact soil cores (17.5-cm diameter, 30-cm length) were taken out from an abandoned rubber plantation on Ferralsol soil (Latossolo Amarelo) in Central Amazonia, Brazil, and kept at 28°C in the laboratory during four months. Leaf litter of either Hevea paucifl ora (rubber tree), Flemingia macrophylla (a shrubby legume) or Brachiaria decumbens (a pasture grass) was put on top of each TME. Five specimens of either Pontoscolex corethrurus or Eisenia fetida (earthworms), Porcellionides pruinosus or Circoniscus ornatus (woodlice), and Trigoniulus corallinus (millipedes) were then added to the TMEs. Leaf litter type signifi cantly affected litter consumption, soil microbial biomass and nitrate concentration in the leachate of all TMEs, but had no measurable effect on the shoot biomass of rice seedlings planted in top soil taken from the TMEs. Feeding rates measured with bait lamina were signifi cantly higher in TMEs with the earthworm P. corethrurus and the woodlouse C. ornatus. TMEs are an appropriate tool to assess trophic interactions in tropical soil ecossistems under controlled laboratory conditions.
KW - brachiaria decumbens
KW - flemingia macrophylla
KW - hevea paucifl ora,
KW - diplopod
KW - earthworms
KW - isopods.
U2 - 10.1590/SO100-204X2009000800040
DO - 10.1590/SO100-204X2009000800040
M3 - Article
VL - 44
SP - 1063
EP - 1071
JO - Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira
JF - Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira
SN - 0100-204X
IS - 8
ER -