Soil fauna abundance and diversity in a secondary semi-evergreen forest in Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles): influence of soil type and dominant tree species |
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Authors: | Gladys Loranger-Merciris Daniel Imbert France Bernhard-Reversat Jean-François Ponge Patrick Lavelle |
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Institution: | (1) UMR 137 BIOSOL, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6/IRD, Laboratoire d’Ecologie des Sols Tropicaux, 32 Avenue Henri Varagnat, 93143 Bondy Cedex, France;(2) Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, Faculté des Sciences Exactes et Naturelles, DYNECAR EA 926, Laboratoire de Biologie et de Physiologie Végétales, BP 592, 97159 Pointe à Pitre Cedex, Guadeloupe, France;(3) Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 5176, 4 Avenue du Petit Chateau, 91800 Brunoy, France |
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Abstract: | The importance of secondary tropical forests regarding the maintenance of soil fauna abundance and diversity is poorly known.
The aims of this study were (1) to describe soil fauna abundance and diversity and (2) to assess the determinants of soil
fauna abundance and diversity in two stands of a tropical semi-evergreen secondary forest. Soil macrofauna and microarthropod
abundance and soil macrofauna diversity were described at two sites developed on different soils and with different site histories:
(1) a natural secondary stand (natural forest) under two dominant tree species, Pisonia subcordata and Bursera simaruba, and (2) a planted secondary forest (planted forest) under three tree species, B. simaruba, Swietenia macrophylla, and Tabebuia heterophylla. The effects of both soil and main tree species’ litter quality were assessed to explain soil fauna abundance and diversity.
The abundance of soil macrofauna was significantly higher in the soil under the planted forest, and soil fauna communities
were contrasted between the two sites. In the planted forest, a soil-dwelling macrofauna community developed (mainly consisting
of the anecic earthworm Polypheretima elongata). In the natural forest, soil macrofauna and microarthropod communities were located at the soil surface. The effect of plant
litter quality varied according to each dominant tree species and was superimposed to soil effect. The lowest macrofauna abundance
was associated with B. simaruba in the natural forest. T. heterophylla supported a much greater macrofauna community than the two other tree species studied at the same soil, and it appears likely
that this is due to the palatability of its leaves compared with the other trees (low lignin, tannins, soluble phenols). |
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Keywords: | Biodiversity Litter quality Macrofauna Microarthropods Semi-evergreen forests |
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