Conversion of rainforest to oil palm and rubber plantations alters energy channels in soil food webs

In the last decades lowland tropical rainforest has been converted in large into plantation systems. Despite the evident changes above ground, the effect of rainforest conversion on the channeling of energy in soil food webs was not studied. Here we investigated community-level neutral lipid fatty acid profiles in dominant soil fauna to track energy channels in rainforest, rubber and oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia. Abundant macrofauna including Araneae, Chilopoda and Diplopoda contained high amounts of plant and fungal biomarker fatty acids (FAs). Lumbricina had the lowest amount of plant, but the highest amount of animal-synthesized C20 polyunsaturated FAs as compared to other soil taxa. Mesofauna detritivores (Collembola and Oribatida) contained high amounts of algal biomarker FAs. The differences in FA profiles between taxa were evident if data were analysed across land-use systems, suggesting that soil fauna of different size (macro- and mesofauna) are associated with di...