Abstract: Soil fauna is an important component of forest ecosystems. We reviewed the contribution of soil fauna on litter decomposition in different forest ecosystems and the influencing factors, the underlying mechanisms of soil fauna affecting litter decomposition, and research advances on litter decomposition models, aiming to better understand the effects of soil fauna on aboveground and belowground ecological processes in forest ecosystems. We proposed a novel framework for modeling litter decomposition by considering the contribution of soil fauna. Soil fauna can affect litter decomposition by acting directly on litter (including moving, breaking and feeding, etc.) or indirectly on the soil (affecting litter decomposition microenvironment through shuttling and burrowing) and microorganisms (influencing the composition, quantity and activities of microbial communities which colonized in litter). Temperature and moisture are important factors affecting activities of soil fauna. The effects of soil fauna on litter decomposition in tropical forests are stronger than in subtropical forests, temperate forests and alpine/subalpine forests. Future modeling studies should focus on how to mimic the effects of soil fauna on litter decomposition and validate the modeling results using field experiment data.

Key words: Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus, resource survey, suitability of origin.