Functioning of soil food webs in response to woodland expansion

生活在土壤中的无数生物相互作用，形成复杂的食物网。这些生命网络包括微生物，如细菌和真菌，以及大量较大的身体生物，如跳虫和螨。土壤食物网调节着几个关键的生态系统过程，包括土壤地球化学（碳，氮，磷）循环，碳储存和温室气体排放，但我们预测土壤食物网的组成和多样性如何驱动这些过程的能力很差。此外，食物网组成与生态系统进程之间的关系-这最终有助于生态系统服务-很可能受到最近土地使用政策的重大变化，即林地扩张的重大影响。英国已经承诺种植更多的树木-仅在英格兰每年就种植3万公顷，但这意味着我们必须在正确的地方种植正确的树木。土壤性质，包括土壤中的生物多样性，是与“正确地点”论点有关的主要因素。为了确保林地扩张对生态系统过程和服务产生净积极影响，迫切需要更全面地了解驱动土壤食物网组成和功能的机制。在这里，我们建立在过去NERC资助的研究，并进行了一系列新的现场和实验室实验，以确定调节食物网活动和多样性的机制，在草地-林地过渡。我们测试的假设，食物多样性调节生态系统的过程，但这种功能的维护是依赖于适应的食物网的碳inputsfrom植物起源于他们的“家”的环境。我们还将产生宝贵的信息，这种适应的时间动态使用林地的时序。我们的研究结果将为发展预测性理解土壤食物网在驱动生态系统过程中的关键作用铺平道路，以应对林地扩张。

The myriad organisms that lives in soil interact to form complex food webs. These webs of life comprise microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, and a wealth of larger bodied organisms such as springtails and mites. Soil food webs regulate several key ecosystem processes including biogeochemical (carbon, nitrogen, phorpsphorus) cycles, carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions, but our ability to predict how the composition and diversity of soil food webs drive these processes is poor. Moreover, the relationship between food web composition and ecosystem processes - which ultimately contribute to ecosystem services - is likely to be significantly affected by major recent changes in land use policy, namely woodland expansion. The UK has committed to planting many more trees - 30000 hectares per year in England alone, but this means we have to plant the right tree in the right place. Soil properties, including the biological diversity in soil are major factors related to the "right place" argument. To ensure woodland expansion has net positive impacts on ecosystem processes and services, a more complete understanding of the mechanisms that drive soil food web composition and function is urgently needed. Here, we build on past NERC funded research and undertake a series of novel field and laboratory experiments to determine the mechanisms that regulate food web activity and diversity in grassland - woodland transitions. We test the hypotheses that food diversity regulates ecosystem processes but that the maintenance of such functions is dependent on adaptation of food webs to carbon inputsfrom plants originating from their 'home' environment. We will also generate valuable information on the temporal dynamics of such adaptations using a chronosequence of woodland. Our findings will pave the way for developing predictive understanding of the critical role of soil food webs in driving ecosystem processes in response to woodland expansion.