Fauna is highly abundant and diverse in soils worldwide, but surprisingly little is known about how it affects soil organic matter stabilization. Here, we review how the ecological strategies of a multitude of soil faunal taxa can affect the formation and persistence of labile (particulate organic matter, POM) and stabilized soil organic matter (mineral-associated organic matter, MAOM). We propose three major mechanisms - transformation, translocation, and grazing on microorganisms - by which soil fauna alters factors deemed essential in the formation of POM and MAOM, including the quantity and decomposability of organic matter, soil mineralogy, and the abundance, location, and composition of the microbial community. Determining the relevance of these mechanisms to POM and MAOM formation in cross-disciplinary studies that cover individual taxa and more complex faunal communities, and employ physical fractionation, isotopic, and microbiological approaches is essential to advance concepts, models, and policies focused on soil organic matter and effectively manage soils as carbon sinks, nutrient stores, and providers of food.

Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Soil Biology and Biogeochemistry Na Sádkách 7 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Eco and Sols Univ Montpellier CIRAD INRAE Institut Agro IRD Montpellier France

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Puschstraße 4 04103 Leipzig Germany

Institute for Environmental Studies Charles University Benátská 2 Praha 2 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Biology Leipzig University Leipzig Germany

Laboratoire ECODIV USC INRAE 1499 Université de Rouen Normandie FR CNRS 3730 SCALE Rouen France

Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz Postfach 300 154 02806 Görlitz Germany

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