Abstract: Jens Dauber & Robin Niechoj Dr. Jens Dauber (contact author), University of Giessen, Department of Animal Ecology Ifz, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany; present address: University of Leeds, Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. E-mail: fbsjda@leeds.ac.uk Robin Niechoj, University of Giessen, Department of Animal Ecology Ifz, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany; present address: University of Limerick, Department of Life Sciences, Schrödinger Building, Limerick, Ireland. Myrmecol. News 10: 104 The question for the edaphic factors driving the relationship between plant community structure and ecosystem processes is a key issue of the current debate on the functional implications of biodiversity (Wardle & al. 2004). Here we draw a direct link between above-/ belowground relationships, vegetation structure and aboveground herbivory. We used ground nesting ants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) as an example for quantifying the role of biotic interactions in soil. Though both groups are known to have a…