Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM) Domain

COST Action ES1406

“Soil fauna: key to soil organic matter dynamics 

and modelling (KEYSOM)”

*ARAID researcher, Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE‐CSIC) Jaca (Huesca) Spain 

COST is supported by theEU Framework Programme Horizon 2020

Juan J. Jiménez* (chair)Juliane Filser** (vice chair)

…and many others

September 2015

** Center forEnvironmental Research andSustainableTechnology

Juliane Filser The Architect Forgot the Engineers ICSZ Coimbra, August 2012 2

The Architect Forgot the Engineers Juliane Filser

Center for Environmental Research and

Sustainable Technology

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ICSZ Coimbra, August 2012

• Great paper on models• But they totally ignored 

the fauna!

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

Juliane FilserThe Architect Forgot the Engineers ICSZ

Coimbra, August 2012

Existing Models on SOM Turnover

PF

C

HSSOM

Turnover

Molecular structure

Physical heterogeneity

Humic substances

Fire-derived C

Soil depth

Roots

Permafrost

Soil micro-organisms

Main elements

State‐of‐the‐art(Schmidt et al. 2011)

Soil fauna totally ignored!

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

Let us reconcile…

• In the end of the article, the authors state:

Join forces and connect research communities „(…) There are those studying litter decomposition, with a focus on the biotic breakdown of plant inputs (…)“

So, what can WE do about it?

Interestingly, none of the 46 papers citing this article (by August 8, 2012) focused on soil fauna!

Juliane FilserThe Architect Forgot the Engineers ICSZ

Coimbra, August 2012

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

We challenged them!

Soil fauna: key to soil organic matter dynamics and modelling (KEYSOM)“We argue that explicit consideration of soil animals is essential to make realistic modelling predictions and detect expected non‐linear responses to Global Change.”

ParticipantsJuliane Filser1, Gerlinde De Deyn2, Jack H. Faber3, Lijbert Brussaard2, Juan José Jiménez4, Alexei V. Uvarov5, Matty P. Berg6, Patrick Lavelle7, Michel Loreau8, Alexei V. Tiunov5, Jan Frouz9, Pascal Querner10, Herman Eijsackers11, Diana H. Wall12

(NL, SP, RU, FR, CZ, AT, US)

COST Action ES 1406 (2015-2019)And got together:

Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM)

The core consortiumCOUNTRY PARTICIPANT

Austria Pascal QUERNER

Czech Republic Jan FROUZ

France Patrick LAVELLE, Michel LOREAU

Germany Juliane FILSER, Frank GLANTE (UBA), Georg GUGGENBERGER*, Reinhard HÜTTL, Ingrid KÖGEL‐KNABNER*, Harry VEREECKEN

Ireland Rachel Creamer

Italy Luca MONTANARELLA (EU com), Sally BUNNING (FAO), Ronald VARGAS (FAO)

Rep. of Moldova Boris BOINCEAN

The Netherlands Matty BERG, Lijbert BRUSSAARD, Gerlinde DE DEYN, Herman EIJSACKERSJack  FABER, Peter DE RUITER

Russian Federation Alexei TIUNOV, Alexei UVAROV

Spain Juan J. JIMÉNEZ (Proposer)

United States Diana WALL

* Coauthors of Schmidt et al. (2011)

State‐of‐the‐art      Key points      Reasons for the ActionUnderstanding and modelling SOM is essential for managingsoil fertility, agricultural productivity and soil ecosystemservices like nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration.

Soil animals are crucial but not sufficiently acknowledged inSOMmodelling.

• Limited communication (linkages) between biogeochemistry,microbiology and soil ecology

• Lack of [awareness of] data on soil animals (both field andlab experiments)

• Soil ecologists: two rather different ways to explainprocesses: “food‐web” vs. “ecosystem egineering”

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

Models on soil fauna and SOM interactions?

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

Brussaard,1998

Gonzalez et al. 2001

Examples• Good attempts, BUT 

incomplete!• Which parameters should be 

considered?

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

belowground

aboveground

direct pathway to plants indirect pathway to plants

Trophic interactionsbelow‐ and aboveground

root feeding  fauna

mycorrhiza

pathogens

(Wardle et al. 2004; Osler and Sommerkorn 2007)

food web

‐ Significant effects on nutrient pools and fluxes‐ Integration of biogeochemical and soil food web 

models‐ Protists and bacteria‐feeding nematodes

important for N mineralization‐ Enchytraeids and fungal‐feeding micro‐

arthropods important for DOM production

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

Focus: Element fluxes

Non‐trophic interactions: Soil ecosystem engineering 

Ecosystem engineers (sensu Jones et al. 1994)  © P. Lavelle

© J.J. Jiménez

(Decaëns et al. 2008)

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

Focus: Habitat structure / physical conditions

The «soil foodweb» model vs. «ecosystem engineering» 

Sanders et al. 2014 (Oikos)

MicroorganismsMicrofoodweb

Functional domain

Soil profile

Biogenic structures

Meso‐aggregates

Microbial aggregates

Mosaic of functional domains

4

5

3

21

Soil catena

Landscape

How to merge both «visions» into a more comprehensive model?

Scaling up

The “wheels model” (Lavelle et al. 2006)

ESSEM COST Action ES1406

WG 4Dissemination of results from analyses, knowledge management and material for training and stakeholder purposes

WG1Data sharing and information, state‐of‐the‐art and gap analysis of SOM – soil fauna interactions

WG2Review existing global SOM models and analysis of their potentials and limitations for inclusion of soil fauna effects

WG 3Assembling data from the different sites in a meta‐database for further extensive analyses

Working groups and tasks

Activities – 1st Grant Period

• WG leaders distribute tasks between partners and likelyparticipants

• 1st MC meeting in Bruxelles in March 2015• Official start: June 1, 2015• 2nd MC meeting and a joint workshop with all WGs in 

Croatia in early October

• Work in progress:Action websiteLiterature ReviewAnnouncement of Short‐Term Scientific Missions (STSM)

Challenges ‐ Example WG 1

Literature Review and Gap Analysis 

• Representation of animal groups• Representation of geographical differences• Data

– Laboratory vs. field– Scale

• How to cope with – different methods, foci?– the huge complexity?

• How much detail is needed?

Role for soil drainage in a field in NL

Termites and CH4 production in a semiarid site

Impact of one lab species on CO2 release

Why is this COST Action important?

‐ European Soil Directive was recently withdrawn; a new European mechanism expected?

‐ European soils are in the need at global scale; from Tundra to arable lands, climatic and land use gradients 

‐ Timely relevant opportunity for Europe to provide solutions to an alarming land degradation rate (SOM depletion)

‐ Implementing soil fauna effects in SOM models is challenging: COST Action is certainly a convenient and promising approach

Summing up

Thanks for your attention!

Contributions welcome!Questions and Comments?

http://www.cost.eu/COST_Actions/essem/Actions/ES1406