Bioindicators are species or groups of species that can be used to help assess ecological health/quality or monitor change over time. The presence or absence of bioindicators, along with changes in their abundance, behavior, or physiology, provide useful information about the local environment, including how they respond to environmental disturbances.
Soil invertebrates have great potential as bioindicators of soil health because they are more diverse and abundant than vertebrates and often more sensitive to environmental disturbance, responding quickly to changes in conditions.
Soil health is directly linked to the animals that live within the soil, and these subterranean communities can tell us how functional and resilient our soils are.
Pocket Guide To Soil Invertebrates As Bioindicators
To help us learn about soil invertebrates and what they in turn can tell us about soil health, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has put together a Pocket Guide To Soil Invertebrates As Bioindicators.
This guide provides profiles of invertebrates that have important roles in soil health and function and may be good candidates for measuring and monitoring to assess the state of the soil environment. Here are a few sample profiles of the fascinating critters featured in the guide:
The pocket guide is intended as a portable, accessible, basic guide for observing and learning about soil invertebrates and what their presence may indicate about soil health. The guide can be downloaded on the Xerces Society website, printed double sided and folded to fit in a pocket.
This pocket bioindicator guide is part of Xerces’ Soil Life project and resources, which also includes the Farming with Soil Life Handbook. Learn more about the handbook in our blog post Farming with Soil Life:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Development of the pocket guide was made possible by the generous contributions of Xerces Society members and funding from the USDA Western SARE program. This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number G185-21-W7903 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number PDP20-003. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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