Abstract
Nutrient cycling is essential for the maintenance of forest productivity. Despite the low contribution of soil fauna to heterotrophic respiration, their impact on decomposition is now recognised as being substantial. The use of microcosms has given an insight into the complexity of the interactions involved (4). However, the phenomena observed in microcosms are often not seen in the field (1). Clarholm (3) suggests that the microcosm may be seen as a model for small volumes of soil. The conditions pertaining in the field will be an integration of events occurring at the microsite level (2). Thus, it is difficult to extrapolate from microcosm studies to field situations.
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© 1992 ECSC, EEC, EAEC, Brussels and Luxembourg
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Heneghan, L., Bolger, T. (1992). Core Project: Studies of the Role of Soil Invertebrates in Nutrient Mobilization in Soil Columns. In: Teller, A., Mathy, P., Jeffers, J.N.R. (eds) Responses of Forest Ecosystems to Environmental Changes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2866-7_127
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2866-7_127
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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