PARENT SESSION
Symposium 11: Digging Deeper or Scratching the Surface? Exploring Ecological Theories in Urban Soils.
Organized by: M Pavao-Zuckerman and L Byrne
Wednesday, August 4, 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM, Oregon Ballroom 203.

Diversity and function in disturbed and un-disturbed habitats: A perspective from soil ecology.

Wall, Diana^*,,

ABSTRACT- I will review disturbances and soil ecological responses from un-disturbed habitats as a basis for comparison to urban habitats. Soils in un-disturbed habitats form over long temporal scales as a result of climatic, geologic and anthropogenic legacies. Within these soils, a diversity of organisms evolved strategies to withstand or recover from disturbances. The response of these organisms to disturbance must be examined across multi- spatial and temporal scales because the scales at which organisms operate, regulate ecosystem processes, and provide ecosystem services can differ. Disturbances also vary by type (e.g. intensive agriculture vs no-till agriculture), temporal and spatial scales adding additional complexity. While there is little evidence to indicate soil species diversity in un-disturbed sites is directly related to ecosystem functioning, we know that species diversity decreases with habitat disturbance, leading to a dominance of the communities by a few species. At the functional group level, particularly for earthworms and termites, disturbances leading to loss of taxa can have major effects on the provision of ecosystem services. Urban habitats, in contrast, can have higher soil biodiversity, carbon and trace gas flux than un-disturbed soils, but the composition of the assemblages and ability to provide ecosystem services will operate at shorter spatial and temporal spatial scales. Above- and belowground biological systems are integrally linked and provide a framework for measuring ecosystem responses to disturbance in all soils.

Key words: soil, belowground, biodiversity, urban