Title | The contributions of soil fauna to nutrient cycles in desert systems |
Publication Type | Conference Proceedings |
Year of Publication | 1983 |
Authors | Whitford WG, Freckman D.W, Parker L.W, Schaefer D, Santos PF, Steinberger Y |
Editor | Lebrun P., André H.M, De Medts A., Grégoire-Wibo C.C, Wauthy G.(eds.) |
Conference Name | New Trends in Soil Biology |
Series Title | Proceedings of the VIII International Colloquium of Soil Zoology |
Pagination | 49-59 |
Date Published | 19821983 |
Publisher | Imprimeur Dieu-Brichart, Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve |
Conference Location | Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium |
Accession Number | JRN00011 |
Call Number | 00396 |
Keywords | abstract, abstracts, conference, conference proceedings, conferences, decomposition, nutrient cyling, nematode, nutrient cycling, nitrogen cycling, nutrient cycling, soil fauna, proceeding, proceedings, Prostigmata, soil fauna, nutrient cycling, termite, nutrient cycling |
Abstract |
A significant fraction of the nitrogen turnover and of other nutrients in the Chihuahuan desert is through termites and back to the system by the termite predators. Important fluxes of N through termites include consumption of dead plant material, fixation of atmospheric N by gut symbionts and production of N enriched gallery carton. Use of biocides to eliminate soil fauna showed that nitrogen was immobilized in ephemeral plant roots and absence of microarthropods resulted in marked reduction of nitrogen turnover and increased soil organic nitrogen. In untreated roots, nitrogen fluxes were primarily a function of microarthropod activity but in the absence of microarthropods, bacteriophagous nematodes and protozoans accounted for most of the N fluxes. |
Custom 1 |
Belgium |