Negative responses of Collembola in a forest soil (Alptal, Switzerland) under experimentally increased N deposition.
The response of specific groups of organisms, like Collembola to atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is still scarcely known. We investigated the Collembola community in a subalpine forest (Alptal, Switzerland) as subjected for 12 years to an experimentally increased N deposition (+25 on top of ambient 12 kg N ha(-1) year(-1)). In the 0-5 cm soil layer, there was a tendency of total Collembola densities to be lower in N-treated than in control plots. The density of Isotomiella minor, the most abundant species, was significantly reduced by the N addition. A tendency of lower Collembola group richness was observed in N-treated plots. The Density-Group index (dDG) showed a significant reduction of community diversity, but the Shannon-Wiener index (H') was not significantly affected by the N addition. The Collembola community can be considered as a bioindicator of N inputs exceeding the biological needs, namely, soil N saturation.
Xu
Guo-Liang
GL
Institute of Ecology, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China. xugl@scbg.ac.cn
Schleppi
Patrick
P
Li
Mai-He
MH
Fu
Sheng-Lei
SL
D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D054750:Ecotoxicology / Q000379:methods; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007313:Insecta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013557:Switzerland; D013997:Time Factors; D014197:Trees
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012987:Soil; D009584:Nitrogen