edaphon Ecology.
(ˈɛdəfɒn)
[G. (R. Francé Das Edaphon (1913)), f. Gr. ἔδαϕ-ος floor + -on as in plankton.]
The community of microflora and microfauna in the soil.
| 1927 S. A. Waksman Princ. Soil Microbiol. xxiv. 642 We are..justified in speaking of a soil population and may even accept the idea of an Edaphon as suggested by Francé, although his conclusion that the edaphon is an indicator of soil fertility may not be fully justified. 1932 Fuller & Conard tr. Braun-Blanquet's Plant Sociol. iv. 76 The quantitative investigation of the edaphon and aeroplankton..the soil and air floras. 1960 N. Polunin Introd. Plant Geogr. xi. 316 Mention should also be made..of the ‘edaphon’, the flora and fauna of the soil. |