Functional Classification of Soil Fauna: A New Approach

The guild and functional group concepts are generally accepted as suitable units in ecosystem modelling, when interspecific relationship and energy or nutrient flows are studied.It is argued, howewer, that members of a feeding guild assemblage can have specific effects on ecosystem processes through microstratification, particularly in stratified habitats such as soils. A new concept, league, is introduced which follows a guild like classification, but assembles organisms by their exploitation or processing of more than one habitat resource in a homologuous manner.The concept is illustrated for soil fauna feeding habits and choice of microhabitat, and the classification is discussed in view of soil fauna mediated decomposition and nutrient cycling processes