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Earth's Systems / Biological processes / Terrestrial ecosystem functioning / Energy transfer through food webs / Trophic efficiency and top-down control / Detrital energy channel

Detrital energy channel

Most terrestrial plant production is not eaten alive but enters the detrital food web of microbes and soil fauna, where grazing on microbes speeds nutrient turnover.

Boundary: where this process starts

Starts with: Dead plant tissue enters the detrital food web

Boundary: where it ends

Ends after: Grazing on microbes releases mineral nutrients

PARTICIPANTSRESOURCESSoil faunaBacteriaDecomposersFungiLitterDead organicmatterEnergyOrganic carbonOxygenNitrogenImpact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +3 of 5. Click for details and evidence.Impact +2 of 5. Click for details and evidence.↻ reinforces · weak · 0.1 released nutrientsDead plant tissue enters the detrital food web: uses up Dead organic matteruses upDead plant tissue enters the detrital food web: uses up Organic carbonuses upMicrobes and soil fauna consume detritus: uses up Dead organic matteruses upMicrobes and soil fauna consume detritus: uses up Energyuses upMicrobes and soil fauna consume detritus: uses up Oxygenuses upGrazing on microbes releases mineral nutrients: uses up Energyuses upGrazing on microbes releases mineral nutrients: makes Nitrogenmakesenters the soil food webDead organic matter: enters the soil food webtransferred todecomposersOrganic carbon: transferred to decomposersshredded and eaten bymicrobesDead organic matter: shredded and eaten by microbesfuels microbial growthEnergy: fuels microbial growthused in aerobicrespirationOxygen: used in aerobic respirationfuels grazer growthEnergy: fuels grazer growthfreed by predation onbacteriaNitrogen: freed by predation on bacteriaStart: Detrital energychannelSTARTStart: Detrital energy channelEnd: Detrital energychannelENDEnd: Detrital energy channelDead plant tissueenters the detritalfood web📄1Dead plant tissue enters the detrital food webMicrobes and soil faunaconsume detritus📄1 ↗1Microbes and soil fauna consume detritusGrazing on microbesreleases mineralnutrients📄1Grazing on microbes releases mineral nutrients
Line thickness = size of impact (1 to 5)% on a line = chance a fork takes that branch📄 = pieces of evidence on a stepNegative effectLoops backHypothesisResource used up (arrow into the step)Resource used, not used upResource made or released (arrow out of the step)
What am I looking at? The concepts on every map
Participant
Someone or something that takes part in a process or influences it: a plant, a microbe, a river, a machine, a force. Participants are the rows of a map.
Resource
Something a step uses or uses up: water, oxygen, sunlight, a tool. Each step has an arrow down to the resources it uses.
Step
One thing that happens in a process. Every step has at least one participant and carries evidence.
Decision fork
A step where the process can go several ways. Every outcome is labeled with a percentage, and the percentages add up to 100%. It is not limited to yes or no.
Loop
A line that carries the process back to an earlier step. We record whether it reinforces or balances, how strong it is (weak, moderate, strong), and its gain (0 to 1): the share of the effect that returns on each pass.
Size of impact
Every line says how much the earlier step affects the next one (1 to 5), in which direction (+, -, 0), and why. Thicker lines mean bigger impact.
Evidence
The support for a claim: a source and what it shows. Every step, line, change and vote needs it. Click any step or line to read its evidence.
Boundary
Where a process starts and where it ends. Every process, and every subprocess, has a start and an end.
Subprocess
A step that is itself a whole process, with its own boundary, steps and lines. Click a step marked ↘ to open it. Subprocesses nest as deep as the evidence goes.
Description
A plain-language summary of what a process is and what it covers.
Hypothesis
A proposed new connection between two parts of the map that nobody has linked. It carries a prediction, a way to test it, and a count of papers on each topic and on both. It is an unverified idea until someone tests it.

Every step, with its evidence

The same information as the map, as a list you can search and share. Click a participant or resource to see everywhere it appears.

Dead plant tissue enters the detrital food web
DecomposersLitterDead organic matterOrganic carbon
Evidence (1) · added by Broad
  • Wardle 2004, Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota, Science, doi:10.1126/science.1094875: Litter is the resource base of the soil food web. (confidence 0.7)
Microbes and soil fauna consume detritus
BacteriaFungiSoil faunaDead organic matterEnergyOxygen
Evidence (1) · added by Broad
  • Bardgett & van der Putten 2014, Belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, Nature, doi:10.1038/nature13855: Soil biodiversity drives carbon and nutrient processing. (confidence 0.7)
Grazing on microbes releases mineral nutrients
Soil faunaBacteriaNitrogenEnergy
Evidence (1) · added by Broad
  • Bardgett & van der Putten 2014, Belowground biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, Nature, doi:10.1038/nature13855: Microbial grazers speed nutrient turnover and release plant-available nutrients. (confidence 0.65)