Soil biodiversity and trophic interactions: are functional traits moving us towards a more predictive ecology?

Tanya Handa
UQAM, Montréal - https://qcbs.ca/fr/membres/les-chercheurs/?profile=80

An astounding diversity of soil organisms, living both in the litter layer and deeper soil horizons, contribute to key ecosystem processes such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling. Drawing on experimental and observational examples from forest ecosystems with various invertebrate taxa, I will highlight studies exploring the functional diversity of consumers and/ or their resources in soil food webs. Are there particular traits of consumers or their resources that can help us predict ecosystem process rates like leaf or root decomposition? Can assessing functional diversity of soil mesofauna help us inform forest management practices? Do traits of consumers and their resources covary in space and if so, are there particular trait matches that allow us to predict predator-prey interactions? We will discuss the strengths and limitations of the functional approach and whether it is indeed, as promised, moving ecology towards a more predictive science.

back