abstract information about the spatial patterns of soil biodiversity is limited though required, e.g. for understanding effects of biodiversity on ecosystem processes. this study was conducted to determine whether soil macrofauna biodiversity parameters display spatial patterns in the riparian forest landscape of karkhe. soil macrofauna were sampled using 200 sampling point along parallel trans...

Published data on production of natural populations of benthic organisms were used to derive allometric equations relating annual production per unit biomass (P: B ratio) to mean individual body mass (time and biomass weighted) in the population on which production was measured. Separate equations were derived for meiofauna and macrofauna. Since no published data on production and size-structur...

Coral reef lagoons are generally regarded as zones of net heterotrophy reliant on organic detritus generated in more productive parts of the reef system, such as the seaward reef flat. The abundance and biomass of sediment infauna were measured seasonally for one year (1986) within the lagoon of Davies Reef, central Great Barrier Reef, to test the hypothesis that macrofaunal biomass and product...

Sediment properties, microphytobenthos biomass (chlorophyll a and phaeopigments), and the structure of the benthic communities of the three main lagoons (Mirim, Imaruí and Santo Antonio) of the Laguna Estuarine System, South Brazil, were analyzed during summer and winter. Microphytobenthos biomass did not differ significantly among the lagoons, but showed higher values in the summer. The macrof...

Tropical island saprophagous invertebrates have received little attention despite their important role in sustaining soil fertility. Soil biodiversity the agroecosystems of Lesser Antilles is subject to various anthropic and environmental perturbations; therefore, it crucial promote agricultural practices that help preserve it. Here, we investigate effect conversion organic farming sugarcane pr...

Soil is the most basic resource for sustainable agricultural production; it promotes water quality, is a key component of the biogeochemical cycles and hosts a huge diversity of organisms. However, we are not paying enough attention to soil degradation produced by land use. Modern agriculture has been successful in increasing yields but has also caused extensive environmental damage, particular...

A commercial scale biochar field trial was established on a farm in Québec, Canada in May 2008. A very fine, commercially available biochar from fast pyrolysis of wood waste was applied as received from the manufacturer using standard farm machinery. The target application rate was 5.6 t/ha, but an estimated 30% of the material was wind-blown and lost during handling, transport to the field, so...

Ecosystem engineers change abiotic conditions, community assembly and ecosystem functioning. Consequently, their loss may modify thresholds of ecosystem response to disturbance and undermine ecosystem stability. This study investigates how loss of the bioturbating lugworm Arenicola marina modifies the response to macroalgal detrital enrichment of sediment biogeochemical properties, microphytobe...

Microbiological activity is a general term which includes all metabolic reactions and interactions of the soil microflora and macrofauna.1 Soil microorganisms contribute to soil fertility and aggregate formation in degraded soils.2 However, it is only during the last decades that ecologists have beginning to explore the underground communities and their functional significance for the plant com...

Plankton communities and macrofauna associated to aquatic macrophyte stands in a shallow water-supply reservoir (21°14'09″S; 48°18'38″W) on an aquaculture farm were compared to evaluate the relationship between organism densities and some abiotic features of the reservoir. Water and communities associated were sampled at two sites, one in an area with the predominance of Eichhornia azurea (Sw.)...