KEYLINK: a new soil model including soil structure and soil fauna as key drivers

Recent improvements in understanding and modelling of the soil and SOM are not yetimplemented into existing ecosystem models (review: Vereecken et al. 2016). Manyecosystem models do not represent any structure of the soil (with only one organic and onemineral layer), although it is clear that humidity and temperature profile are of high importance,and cannot be simulated without soil structure. Moreover, physical accessibility of SOM is animportant determinant of its stability (besides chemical recalcitrance). Although the importanceof soil fauna as ‘engineers’ on soil structure is well-documented, this is seldom represented inecosystem level models (Barot et al. 2007). The important role of other faunal foodweb agents(Bengtsson et al. 1996) is completely ignored in ecosystem models, although functionaldiversity of the foodweb is of major importance for a well-functioning soil. It is also clear thatthe importance of EM fungi was not recognized in the older soil models, while recent researchsuggests their importance both as main components of older SOM and as networks betweentrees that exchange both C and nutrients (Averill & Hawkes 2016).At the same time, many very detailed models exist that require too many data forimplementation into ecosystem models or are difficult to parameterize but offer interestinginsights into soil functioning. In ecosystem models the representation of the soil needs to berelatively simple, fast in calculations and requiring only limited input.Within COST actions KEYSOM and BIOLINK a new integrative soil model ‘KEYLINK’ wasdeveloped that is simple enough for inclusion into existing ecosystem models, yet includes thenewest insights concerning:- Main soil fauna ‘agents’ divided into functional groups: engineers, fungivores,predators….- Main drivers: water – t – structure –pH – litter quality- Main processes: SOM stabilization, decay, nutrient & water uptak

The global EPTO database:worldwide occurrences of aquatic insects

Abstract Motivation: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity and are widely used as bioindicators to assess water quality impairment and freshwater ecosystem health, as well as to test ecological hypotheses. Despite their importance, a comprehensive, global database of aquatic insect occurrences for mapping freshwater biodiversity in macroecological studies and applied freshwater research is missing. We aim to fill this gap and present the Global EPTO Database, which includes worldwide geo-referenced aquatic insect occurrence records for four major taxa groups: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata (EPTO). Main type of variables contained: A total of 8,368,467 occurrence records globally, of which 8,319,689 (99%) are publicly available. The records are attributed to the corresponding drainage basin and sub-catchment based on the Hydrography90m dataset and are accompanied by the elevation value, the freshwater ecoregion and the protection status of their location. Spatial location and grain: The database covers the global extent, with 86% of the observation records having coordinates with at least four decimal digits (11.1 m precision at the equator) in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system. Time period and grain: Sampling years span from 1951 to 2021. Ninety-nine percent of the records have information on the year of the observation, 95% on the year and month, while 94% have a complete date. In the case of seven sub-datasets, exact dates can be retrieved upon communication with the data contributors. Major taxa and level of measurement: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata, standardized at the genus taxonomic level. We provide species names for 7,727,980 (93%) records without further taxonomic verification. Software format: The entire tab-separated value (.csv) database can be downloaded and visualized at https://glowabio.org/project/epto_database/. Fifty individual datasets are also available at https://fred.igb-berlin.de, while six datasets have restricted access. For the latter, we share metadata and the contact details of the authors

The global EPTO database : Worldwide occurrences of aquatic insects

Motivation: Aquatic insects comprise 64% of freshwater animal diversity and are widely used as bioindicators to assess water quality impairment and freshwater ecosystem health, as well as to test ecological hypotheses. Despite their importance, a comprehensive, global database of aquatic insect occurrences for mapping freshwater biodiversity in macroecological studies and applied freshwater research is missing. We aim to fill this gap and present the Global EPTO Database, which includes worldwide geo-referenced aquatic insect occurrence records for four major taxa groups: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata (EPTO).Main type of variables contained: A total of 8,368,467 occurrence records globally, of which 8,319,689 (99%) are publicly available. The records are attributed to the corresponding drainage basin and sub-catchment based on the Hydrography90m dataset and are accompanied by the elevation value, the freshwater ecoregion and the protection status of their location.Spatial location and grain: The database covers the global extent, with 86% of the observation records having coordinates with at least four decimal digits (11.1 m precision at the equator) in the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) coordinate reference system.Time period and grain: Sampling years span from 1951 to 2021. Ninety-nine percent of the records have information on the year of the observation, 95% on the year and month, while 94% have a complete date. In the case of seven sub-datasets, exact dates can be retrieved upon communication with the data contributors.Major taxa and level of measurement: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Odonata, standardized at the genus taxonomic level. We provide species names for 7,727,980 (93%) records without further taxonomic verification.Software format: The entire tab-separated value (.csv) database can be downloaded and visualized at . Fifty individual datasets are also available at , while six datasets have restricted access. For the latter, we share metadata and the contact details of the authors.Peer reviewe