Figure 3: Carbon flow in relation to biomass and abundance in the soil food web.
From: Soil networks become more connected and take up more carbon as nature restoration progresses
Labelled carbon derived from living components in the soil: roots (green), bacterial channel (red, orange and pink), fungal channel (blue, purple, magenta), and higher trophic levels (brown, yellow, orange). The groups indicated with +represent the amount of 13C excess in pmol per gram soil (bacteria, fungi, AMF) measured 1 day after pulse labelling. For all other groups, the 13C excess is the increase in δ13C values of the labelled compared with natural values, measured from non-labelled controls, in recently, mid-term and long-term abandoned agricultural fields. Labelled compounds in plant roots have been measured 1 day after pulse labelling. Labels in root-feeding nematodes, bacterivorous nematodes, enchytraeids, earthworms, collembolans, fungivorous cryptostigmatic mites and fungivorous nematodes have been determined 1 week after pulse labelling, and fungivorous non-cryptostigmatic mites, predaceous mites, spiders and omni-carnivorous nematodes were determined 2 weeks after pulse labelling.
