File:Soil fauna, climatic gradients and soil heterogeneity.jpg

English: Soil fauna, climatic gradients and soil heterogeneity
Linking hotspots and hot moments of soil fauna to climatic gradients and soil heterogeneity: Historical factors (climate, parent material) shape our landscapes (both above- and below-ground), but the regional/local abiotic conditions constraint biological activities. These operate at different spatial and temporal scales and can switch on and off different organisms at different microsites resulting in a hot moment in a particular hotspot. Since each of their responses can have effects on others, their effects could then cascade up and down in the food web. Soil invertebrates are depicted not in scale, just for illustrative purposes (see pictorial legend for major taxonomical groups). Ellipses indicate hot (red) or cold spots (blue), with the curved arrows giving some examples of the factors that could switch on/off a hot moment and the straight black arrows (continuous black line = on, dashed = off) showing the implications for soil processes along the soil profile. In the boxes, the main ecosystem characteristics are listed.