Substrate quality and not dominant plant community determines the vertical distribution and C assimilation of enchytraeids in peatlands

Peatlands are important carbon (C) stores as a result of acidity, waterlogging conditions and low temperatures slowing decomposition rates. However, climate change is predicted to bring not only changes in abiotic conditions, but also the replacement of peat-forming vegetation, such as Sphagnum mosses, with vascular plants. In these systems, enchytraeid worms represent the dominant mesofaunal group, and previous climate change manipulations have shown that their abundances and vertical distribution are strongly influenced by temperature and moisture gradients, with important implications for C cycling. Therefore, determining their behavioural responses to changes in both abiotic and biotic factors is crucial to quantify their contribution to decomposition processes.
We investigated the importance of vertical edaphic gradients (soil moisture and labile C) on enchytraeids total numbers, vertical distribution and feeding activities by inverting intact soil cores and hence, reversing b...