Forest fire induces short-term shifts in soil food webs with consequences for carbon cycling.

We tested for fire-induced (5-6 years post-fire) changes in the structure and functioning of the soil food web along a 3000-km north-south transect across European Russia, spanning all major forest types in the northern hemisphere outside the tropics. The total biomass of the detrital food web, including microbes and invertebrates, was not affected by fire. However, fire reduced the biomass of microfauna and mites, but had no impact on mesofauna or macrofauna. Fire also reduced rates of carbon (C) mobilisation by soil biota. Our results demonstrate that fire-induced shifts in soil food webs have significant short-term effects on forest soil C cycling, but that these effects vary across forest types and geographic locations.

Taxonomic diversity and abundance of enchytraeids (Annelida, Clitellata, Enchytraeida) in the Northern Palaearctic. 1. Asian part.

Background: Enchytraeids, or potworms, are tiny oligochaetes that are distributed worldwide in many terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Despite their key role in the functioning of ecosystems, the diversity and abundance of Enchytraeidae are rarely studied due to the laborious process of species identification. The present study addresses this gap and sheds some light on the distribution and abundance of enchytraeids in the lands of the Northern Palearctic. The provided dataset constitutes the latest and comprehensive field sampling of enchytraeid assemblages across the Asiatic part of the Northern Palearctic, encompassing an original set of soil samples systematically collected throughout the region from 2019 to 2022. New information: The dataset includes occurrences from 131 georeferenced sites, encompassing 39 species and 7,074 records. This represents the first dataset providing species-specific information about the distribution and abundance of terrestrial enchytraeids across an extensive geographic area covering the Asian sector of the Northern Palaearctic. The compiled dataset is the key for exploring and understanding local and regional enchytraeid diversity. It may also serve as a valuable resource for monitoring and conserving the entire soil biodiversity.

Mechanisms of soil macrofauna community sustainability in temperate rice-growing systems.

Rice growing requires highly destructive and highly invasive field management negatively affecting soil biota and its functions. We aimed to compare taxonomic and functional trait compositions of soil macrofauna at different stages of rice cropping cycles in the three temperate rice-growing regions in Russia. Samples were collected in 2016 at four different biotopes in each region: flooded rice paddies; upland crops planted one year after flooded rice; rice paddy bunds; and relatively undisturbed seminatural control grasslands. Collected soil macrofauna were allocated to different traits according to their feeding preferences, vertical distribution, mobility and flood tolerance. The lowest macrofaunal abundance across all regions was observed in rice paddies. Cultivation of upland crops after paddy flooding consistently decreased the abundance of resident macrofauna, but not that of mobile soil macrofauna. In the upland crops, the abundance of belowground and mobile belowground macrofauna was significantly higher than that in control grasslands. The abundance of aboveground phytophages was significantly lower in the upland crops than in control sites. Flood-associated taxa showed low colonization ability after the paddies were drained. In contrast, representatives of other traits recorded in flooded fields increased their abundance at the next stage of crop rotation, demonstrating high resilience within an entire rice-growing system, including bunds. This finding indicates a high potential of seminatural grasslands and especially bunds as sources of rapid restoration of soil macrofauna functional diversity in rice-growing agroecosystems, thus maintaining the sustainability of soil food webs in the rice paddies.