Amanda Varela
Pontifical Xavierian University
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Publication
Featured researches published by Amanda Varela.
Global Change Biology | 2008
Diana H. Wall; Mark A. Bradford; Mark G. St. John; J. A. Trofymow; Valerie M. Behan-Pelletier; David E. Bignell; J. Mark Dangerfield; William J. Parton; Josef Rusek; Winfried Voigt; Volkmar Wolters; Holley Zadeh Gardel; Fred O. Ayuke; Richard Bashford; Olga I. Beljakova; Patrick J. Bohlen; Alain Brauman; Stephen Flemming; Joh R. Henschel; Dan L. Johnson; T. Hefin Jones; Marcela Kovarova; J. Marty Kranabetter; Les Kutny; Kuo‐Chuan Lin; Mohamed Maryati; Dominique Masse; Andrei Pokarzhevskii; Homathevi Rahman; Millor G. Sabará
Climate and litter quality are primary drivers of terrestrial decomposition and, based on evidence from multisite experiments at regional and global scales, are universally factored into global decomposition models. In contrast, soil animals are considered key regulators of decomposition at local scales but their role at larger scales is unresolved. Soil animals are consequently excluded from global models of organic mineralization processes. Incomplete assessment of the roles of soil animals stems from the difficulties of manipulating invertebrate animals experimentally across large geographic gradients. This is compounded by deficient or inconsistent taxonomy. We report a global decomposition experiment to assess the importance of soil animals in C mineralization, in which a common grass litter substrate was exposed to natural decomposition in either control or reduced animal treatments across 30 sites distributed from 43°S to 68°N on six continents. Animals in the mesofaunal size range were recovered from the litter by Tullgren extraction and identified to common specifications, mostly at the ordinal level. The design of the trials enabled faunal contribution to be evaluated against abiotic parameters between sites. Soil animals increase decomposition rates in temperate and wet tropical climates, but have neutral effects where temperature or moisture constrain biological activity. Our findings highlight that faunal influences on decomposition are dependent on prevailing climatic conditions. We conclude that (1) inclusion of soil animals will improve the predictive capabilities of region- or biome-scale decomposition models, (2) soil animal influences on decomposition are important at the regional scale when attempting to predict global change scenarios, and (3) the statistical relationship between decomposition rates and climate, at the global scale, is robust against changes in soil faunal abundance and diversity.
Zootaxa | 2016
Diana Rueda-Ramírez; Amanda Varela; Gilberto J. de Moraes
Soil mites of the Ascidae sensu Lindquist & Evans (1965) are poorly known in Colombia. This group, presently represented by the families Ascidae sensu stricto, Blattisociidae and Melicharidae, contains species known to prey on small arthropods and nematodes, thus having the potential to be used for the control of soil pests. The aim of this study was to identify species of this group from a fragment of Andean forest and a nearby grassland at the municipality of La Calera, Cundinamarca Department, Colombia, at about 2800 m of elevation. Nine species were found, including five new species, namely Gamasellodes andinus sp. nov., Gamasellodes intermedius sp. nov., Protogamasellus caleraensis sp. nov., Cheiroseius mesae sp. nov. and Proctolaelaps colombianus sp. nov. Morphological characterisation of all the species and relevant soil characteristics of the sites where the mites were collected are presented.
Journal of Ecology | 2009
Jennifer S. Powers; Rebecca A. Montgomery; E. Carol Adair; Francis Q. Brearley; Saara J. DeWalt; Camila de Toledo Castanho; Jérôme Chave; Erika Deinert; Jörg U. Ganzhorn; Matthew E. Gilbert; José Antonio González-Iturbe; Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin; H. Ricardo Grau; Kyle E. Harms; J Ankila Hiremath; Silvia Iriarte-Vivar; Eric Manzane; Alexandre A. Oliveira; Lourens Poorter; Jean-Baptiste Ramanamanjato; Carl F. Salk; Amanda Varela; George D. Weiblen; Manuel T. Lerdau
Journal of Invertebrate Pathology | 1996
Amanda Varela; Esperanza Morales
Revista Iberoamericana De Micologia | 2009
Deisy Fernanda Chaparro; Diana Carolina Rosas; Amanda Varela
Revista Iberoamericana De Micologia | 2009
Deisy Fernanda Chaparro; Diana Carolina Rosas; Amanda Varela
Revista Colombiana De Entomologia | 2007
Amanda Varela; Camilo Cortés; Catalina Cotes
Caldasia | 2006
Angélica Ruiz; Amanda Varela
Archive | 2016
Diana Marcela Rueda-Ramírez; Amanda Varela; Salvador de Toledo; Piza
Bothalia | 2016
Diana Marcela Rueda-Ramírez; Amanda Varela