Bottinelli N. auteur aut IRD Jouquet Pascal auteur aut IRD Capowiez Y. auteur aut IRD Podwojewski Pascal auteur aut IRD Grimaldi Michel auteur aut IRD Peng X. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access These last twenty years have seen the development of an abundant literature on the influence of soil macrofauna on soil structure. Amongst these organisms, earthworms, termites and ants are considered to play a key role in regulating the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of soils. Due to these influential impacts, soil ecologists consider these soil macro-invertebrates as ‘soil engineers’ and their diversity and abundance are nowadays considered as relevant bioindicators of soil quality by many scientists and policy makers. Despite this abundant literature, the soil engineering concept remains a ‘preach to the choir’ and bioturbation only perceived as important for soil ecologists. We discussed in this article the main mechanisms by which soil engineers impact soil structure and proposed to classify soil engineers with respect to their capacity to produce biostructures and modify them. We underlined the lack of studies considering biostructure dynamics and presented recent techniques in this purpose. We discussed why soil engineering concept is mainly considered by soil ecologists and call for a better collaboration between soil ecologists and soil physicists. Finally, we summarized main challenges and questions that need to be answered to integrate soil engineers activities in soil structure studies. specialized FAUNE DU SOL MACROFAUNE TERMITE LOMBRIC STRUCTURE DU SOL AGREGAT POROSITE STABILITE STRUCTURALE MATIERE ORGANIQUE ALTERATION RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE SYSTEME DE REPRESENTATIONS FOURMI 074FAUSOL03 068PROSOL Peng X. ed. edt IRD Horn R. ed. edt IRD Hallett R. ed. edt IRD 146-A no spécial 118-124 2015 0167-1987 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010063322 10.1016/j.still.2014.01.007 0167-1987 [F B010063322] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010063322 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/depot/2015-02-10/010063322.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2015-02-10 2015-11-05 fdi:010063322 fre