This webinar hosted by The Biological Recording Company, as part of their entoLIVE series, was presented by by Dr Frank Ashwood (soil ecologist at Forest Research). This presentation provided an overview of soil biodiversity and the main groups of organisms that can be found in this ecosystem. The presenter described organisms based on their size.

This webinar was recorded and the recording subsequently posted online (below), along with a blog (Brown, 2023).

The Biological Recording Company

From Springtails to Pauropods: Soil Biodiversity Monitoring in the UK

11 December 2023

Macrofauna > 2mm

Centipedes, ants, beetles (predators)

Woodlice, millipedes (detritivores)

Earthworms (detritivores, omnivores)

Mesofauna < 2mm

Potworms (detritivores, omnivores)

Pseudoscorpions (predators)

Springtails

Mites (predators, herbivores, fungivores, parasites)

Pauropods (fungivores, detritivores)

Proturans (<1mm)

Microfauna < 0.1mm

Nematodes

This was then followed by a description of various sampling methods covering different soil habitats:

• Direct sampling

• Berlese/Winkler extraction

• Soil corer

• Surface pitfall trap

• Baited sectioned sampler

• Subsoil pitfall trap

• Subterranean sampler

Finally, concluding with details of various monitoring schemes and projects:

SoilBON: A global effort to monitor soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, no date).

EUdaphobase: European Soil-Biology Data Warehouse for Soil Protection (Cost, 2020)

NCEA: Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (Defra, 2022)

Reflection

I found this webinar fascinating - it really helped me gain an overview of the groups of organisms present in the soil, knowledge that I will use in modules of my MSc course.

It was interesting to hear how pauropods have not been looked at extensively, with someone here in the UK developing keys for their identification (at the time of the webinar). Which, considering how well studied UK organisms are, I found surprising that these keys did not already exist.

I was also very interested in the macro photography that Dr Frank Ashwood showed in this presentation, it really helped bring to life how diverse the soil ecosystem is!

References

Defra (2022) Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-capital-and-ecosystem-assessment-programme (Accessed: 14 March 2024).

Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (no date) Soil Biodiversity Observation Network. Available at: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/soilbon (Accessed: 14 March 2024).

Brown, K. D. (2023) From Springtails to Pauropods: Soil Biodiversity Monitoring in the UK. Available at: https://biologicalrecording.co.uk/2023/12/11/soil-biodiversity/ (Accessed: 11 December 2023).

COST (2020) CA18237 - European Soil-Biology Data Warehouse for Soil Protection. Available at: https://www.eudaphobase.eu/ (Accessed: 14 March 2024).