Modelling quantitative carbon flows in soil food webs

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In the first phase of the research unit, a binary food web of the agricultural soil field site has been assembled describing the populations and their trophic interactions. Additionally, data bases on assimilation and respiration rates and consumer-resource functional responses have been built. In the planned second phase of the research unit, the respiration and assimilation data will be used for constructing a quantitative food web model with explicit carbon flows among populations. Moreover, a unified carbon model will combine abiotic and biotic carbon flows. Finally, using the food web and the functional response data will allow constructing dynamic food web models to address which species are most important for maintaining population and food-web stability and the total carbon flow. Together, these analyses offer the unique opportunity to obtain a comprehensive understanding of carbon flows and keystone species in a highly-resolved food web of an agricultural field.