Biotic interactions in the soil food web have been increasingly recognized as crucial for ecosystem functioning, however there are still knowledge gaps in terms of the associations between macrofauna and microorganisms, particularly in soil hotspot microsites. A manipulative study was performed to investigate the protist community in the drilosphere and casts of three earthworm species (epigeic Amynthas cortices, anecic Amynthas hupeiensis and endogeic Drawida gisti) and a control soil without earthworms. Results showed that earthworm presence significantly increased the relative abundance of parasitic protists (p < 0.05). The diversity of protists within drilosphere and casts depended on earthworm species, with D. gisti and A. hupeiensis increasing diversity and A. cortices decreasing protist diversity (p < 0.05). Structural equation modelling indicated that protist abundance and diversity in the drilosphere were regulated indirectly via neutralized soil pH and accelerated C and N mineralization, while in casts were affected directly through earthworm gut processing and indirectly through elevated water content. In conclusion, the marked effects on soil protist community mediated by earthworms varied from distinct earthworm species and microsites. The present study suggests the necessity to consider interactions between protist and earthworms in evaluating the effects of soil fauna on soil biota and the related ecosystem processes.

人们日益认识到土壤食物网中的生物相互作用对于生态系统的功能至关重要，但是就大型动物群与微生物之间的关联而言，尤其是在土壤热点微场所中，仍然存在知识空白。进行了一项操纵性研究，调查了三种ilo物种（史上的Am虫（Amynthas cortices），an葵的Amynthas hupeiensis和内生的Drawida gisti）以及没有without的对照土壤在小球层和菌群中的原生生物群落。结果表明，presence的存在显着增加了寄生原生生物的相对丰度（p  <0.05）。小流层和表层内的原生生物的多样性取决于species种（D. gisti）和A. hupeiensis增加多样性，而A.皮质减少原生生物多样性（p  <0.05）。结构方程模型表明，通过中和的土壤pH值和加速的C和N矿化作用，间接调节了小球层中的原生生物丰度和多样性，而在铸模中，directly的直接作用是pro的加工过程，而水分含量的升高则间接地影响了铸模中的生物。总之，earth介导的对土壤生物群落的显着影响因distinct物种和微地点而异。本研究表明在评估土壤动物对土壤生物和相关生态系统过程的影响时，有必要考虑原生动物与pro之间的相互作用。