Soil microarthropod community dynamics in extensive green roofs
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Microarthropod communities were monitored over 14 months on two extensive green roofs. Abiotic factors, including substrate moisture, were recorded, as were biotic factors such as plant and mycorrhizal colonisation. Microarthropod interactions with these variables were then examined.
Microarthropod diversity was low overall, with a few dominant species peaking seasonally. On occasion, total abundance was comparable to other early successional soils. The majority of species present were drought tolerant collembola and xerophillic mites, suggesting that moisture levels on green roofs are a major limiting factor for soil microarthropods.
Our results suggest that the microarthropod community present in extensive green roof soils is impoverished, limiting the success of above-ground flora and fauna and ultimately the success of the roof as an urban habitat. We conclude that green roof building guidelines should incorporate soil communities in their design and should aim to be heterogeneous at the roof and landscape level, for the purpose of supporting soil biodiversity and creating sustainable habitats.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 197-204 |
Journal | Ecological Engineering |
Volume | 57 |
Early online date | 10 May 2013 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2013 |
Documents
- Rumble and Gange EcoEng PURE
Rights statement: NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Ecological Engineering. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Ecological Engineering, [VOL 57, (2013)] DOI 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.04.012
Accepted author manuscript (Post-print), 461 KB, PDF document
Licence: CC BY
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Related information
Outputs
Green roof soil organisms: anthropogenic assemblages or natural communities?
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Microbial inoculants as a soil remediation tool for extensive green roofs
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Projects
Quantifying the Soil Community on Green Roofs
Project: Research
Student Theses
Quantifying the soil community on green roofs
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis
ID: 1688842