The characteristics of the faunal community in soil are closely related to soil quality. Using the soil faunal community as an indicator of soil quality is not cost-effective because of the complex taxonomic distinction and identification required, moreover; the power of the assessment is weak in relation to soil function. Recently, a functional method incorporating eco-morphological traits has been proposed, but it depends upon presence/absence data of soil arthropod community exclusively. To overcome the limitation, we designed a novel index using the diversity of the soil faunal community along with its functional traits, and the abundance of its members (Abundance-based Fauna Index, referred as FAI). The FAI method supports both the presence/absence data and its abundance. Using real and simulated data sets with eco-morphological and niche breadth traits, two taxonomic independent functional traits, we tested associations of FAI values with soil quality and found a good relationship. In addition to its usefulness for measuring soil quality, FAI may provide valuable information for linking functional traits of soil fauna and the belowground environmental condition. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Yan, S., Singh, A. N., Fu, S., Liao, C., Wang, S., Li, Y., … Hu, L. (2012). A soil fauna index for assessing soil quality. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 47, 158–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.11.014
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