Loss of soil biodiversity experiments

United Kingdom Case Study – Loss of soil biodiversity

The researchers assessed the long-term effects of chemical manipulations to the soil and the resulting effect of pH change on soil biodiversity and function.  The experiment involved applying amendments of ferrous sulphate and elemental sulphur.

UK Video 

 Control    Ferrous Sulphate    Elemental Sulphur
UKexperimentControl   UKexperimentFerrousSulphate   UKexperimentElementalSulphur

         Photo credit: Marta Gil Martinez

Final Results

Earthworms

 UKResults1   UKResults3    

Nematodes

 UKResults4
Figure 1. Earthworm biomass (a) and abundance by functional group (b) and nematode abundance (c) by feeding group (d) were evaluated across treatments (n=10) in Nov 2016. Acid grassland and heathland were included as reference plots (n=4).

For more information about this RECARE experiment, please contact Mark Tibbett This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.