Soil is the habitat of plant roots and of a diverse array of organisms
-bacteria, fungi, protozoa and invertebrate animals -which contribute
to the maintenance and productivity of agroecosystems. As intensificat
ion occurs, the regulation of functions through soil biodiversity is p
rogressively replaced by regulation through chemical and mechanical in
puts, However, the causal relationships between (1) composition, diver
sity and abundance of soil organisms and (2) sustained soil fertility
are unclear. Furthermore, in tropical agricultural systems undergoing
intensification, large numbers of farmers have limited access to input
s, and therefore the maintenance and enhancement of soil biodiversity
may be particularly relevant to such farmers. In this paper we propose
a number of hypotheses which could be tested to explore the relations
hips between agricultural intensification, biodiversity in tropical so
ils and ecosystem functions. We also provide a conceptual framework wi
thin which such hypotheses can be tested. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.
V.