Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and soil decomposer food webs

Abstract Decomposer organisms are essential for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems; they mineralize carbon and nutrients that are bound to dead organic matter and provide resources for primary production. However, linking soil decomposer diversity with ecosystem functioning is difficult as processes in soil are not controlled by a uniform group of organisms but an array of interacting bacteria, fungi and fauna (Beare et al. 1995; Ekschmitt and Griffiths 1998). Further, the considerable lack of knowledge about the roles of individual species (especially within bacteria, fungi, microfauna and mesofauna) hinders our ability to identify the unique functions that decomposer species might perform.