Soils are the largest reservoirs of terrestrial carbon, thus play a critical role in the global carbon cycling process and consequently in climate regulation. Soils have considerable potential to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration, thus it is imperative to understand the underlying carbon dynamics mechanisms mediated by the soil biota and their interactions. The importance of soil microbial activities on the soil processes is widely acknowledged, but the impact of soil fauna in carbon dynamics remains poorly quantified. This project aims to quantify the role of soil fauna and their interactions with other soil-inhabiting organisms in the soil carbon cycling processes in boreal forests across Finland. The impact of top-town regulators (soil fauna) on soil microbial activities and community structure will ultimately aid in more accurate predictions about soil carbon dynamics under the changing environmental conditions.

2024

2028