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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #179325
Title: SOIL DISTURBANCE BY SOIL ANIMALS ON A TOPOCLIMATIC GRADIENT

Author
item STEINBERGER, YOSEF - BAR-LLAN UNIV, ISRAEL
item PEN-MOURATOV, STANISLAV - BAR-LLAN UNIV, ISRAEL
item WHITFORD, WALTER - NEW MEXICO UNIV COLLABORA

Submitted to: European Journal of Soil Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/7/2004
Publication Date: 8/6/2004
Citation: Steinberger, Y., Pen-Mouratov, S., Whitford, W.G. 2004. Soil disturbance by soil animals on a topoclimatic gradient. European Journal of Soil Biology. 40(2):73-76.

Interpretive Summary: One of the most important challenges in the ecology of desert ecosystems is understanding the relationship betweer rainfall (either individual rain events or seasonal rainfall) and ecosystem processes. Most desert ecosystem research has been based on the pulse-reserve conceptual model. This model emphasizes the importance of rainfall as a trigger that initiates a pulse of biological activity. The duration of the pulse should be a function of the amount and distribution of rainfall. This relationship should be examined for a variety of ecosystem processes and taxa topoclimatic gradients. One successful approach was to examine the relationship between rainfall as a trigger and its role in maintaining a pulse of biological activity. Soil disturbance by animals is an important ecosystem process that was recognized as early as the nineteenth century. There is rich literature on soil disturbance by a variety of animal species. Virtually all the studies cited in these reviews were autecological and most of the studies focused on a single ecosystem process or soil property that was affected by the species studied. To evaluate the importance of faunal pedturbation in desert ecosystems, it is necessary to consider all types of soil disturbance by the assemblage of animals living in the ecosystem. We designed an experiment of faunal pedturbation on a topoclimatic gradient to evaluate the relationship between pulse duration and amount of rainfall and to evaluate the contribution of soi disturbances to soil properties and ecosystem processes.

Technical Abstract: We measured the area and volume of soil disturbed by various groups of animals at three sites on a topoclimatic gradient in the Judean Desert, Israel. Both the area and volume of soil disturbed by animals correlated with the cumulative precipitation of the winter rain season. Rodent activity accounted for most of the soil disturbance at all sites except for June 2001, when the volume of soil transported to the surface by ants in the construction of nest chambers accounted for most of the soil volume moved at the intermediate rainfall site. The aggregate stability of soil ejected from animal excavations was significantly lower than that of undisturbed soil during and immediately following the winter rain season, but not during the following dry seasons. The quantities of soil moved by ants in the Judean Desert were comparable to quantities moved by ants in the Chihuahuan Desert of North America.