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Review article - Peer-reviewed, 2020

KEYLINK: towards a more integrative soil representation for inclusion in ecosystem scale models. I. review and model concept

Deckmyn, Gaby; Flores, Omar; Mayer, Mathias; Domene, Xavier; Schnepf, Andrea; Kuka, Katrin; Van Looy, Kris; Rasse, Daniel P.; Briones, Maria J., I; Barot, Sebastien; Berg, Matty; Vanguelova, Elena; Ostonen, Ivika; Vereecken, Harry; Suz, Laura M.; Frey, Beat; Frossard, Aline; Tiunov, Alexei; Frouz, Jan; Grebenc, Tine;
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Abstract

The relatively poor simulation of the below-ground processes is a severe drawback for many ecosystem models, especially when predicting responses to climate change and management. For a meaningful estimation of ecosystem production and the cycling of water, energy, nutrients and carbon, the integration of soil processes and the exchanges at the surface is crucial. It is increasingly recognized that soil biota play an important role in soil organic carbon and nutrient cycling, shaping soil structure and hydrological properties through their activity, and in water and nutrient uptake by plants through mycorrhizal processes. In this article, we review the main soil biological actors (microbiota, fauna and roots) and their effects on soil functioning. We review to what extent they have been included in soil models and propose which of them could be included in ecosystem models. We show that the model representation of the soil food web, the impact of soil ecosystem engineers on soil structure and the related effects on hydrology and soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization are key issues in improving ecosystem-scale soil representation in models. Finally, we describe a new core model concept (KEYLINK) that integrates insights from SOM models, structural models and food web models to simulate the living soil at an ecosystem scale.

Keywords

Soil fauna; Model; Soil organic matter (SOM); Hydrology; Pore size distribution (PSD); Soil biota; Ecosystem

Published in

PeerJ
2020, Volume: 8, article number: e9750
Publisher: PEERJ INC

    Associated SLU-program

    SLU Plant Protection Network

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG15 Life on land

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Soil Science
    Ecology

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9750

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/107869