Peculiarities of biotic interactions in the soil system
Peculiarities of biotic interactions in the soil system

Summary/Abstract: The heterogeneity of soil environment is an important factor of the taxonomic and ecological diversity of the soil animal population. The con¬tribution of invertebrates to the formation of aerial space in mineral soil horizons, in the form of a stable system of biopores, is considered on the basis of the author’s original materials and literature data. Aerial space is the necessary condition for the life of aerobiotic forms in the mineral soil, which comprise the bulk of soil invertebrates belonging to meso- and macrofauna. Zoogenic mechanisms of the formation of soil pores and soil aggregates are analyzed. Pore walls and aggregate surfaces are populated by different groups of pedobionts. The partial isolation of these loci decreases predation, that creates conditions for the maintenance of a high diversity and abundance of animal populations in the restricted volume of populated soil profile.

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