Response of collembolan assemblages to plant species successional gradient |
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Authors: | Gabriel Perez Thibaud Decaëns Gaylord Dujardin Marthe Akpa-Vinceslas Estelle Langlois Matthieu Chauvat |
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Affiliation: | Normandie Univ, EA 1293 ECODIV-Rouen, SFR SCALE, UFR Sciences et Techniques, 76821 Mont Saint Aignan Cedex, France |
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Abstract: | It has been acknowledged that soil organisms play a significant role in nutrient cycling and thus may affect productivity and competition within plant assemblages with potential effects on vegetation trajectories. However, few studies have considered a single conceptual framework referring to both above–belowground linkages and plant succession. Consequently, we lack knowledge on the effects of plant successional processes on the dynamics of soil biota. Given this dearth of information, our study aimed to describe the dynamics of a major group of soil fauna, namely collembola, during the secondary succession on chalky slopes edging the Seine River. We selected five different plant assemblages as representative of a chronosequence: short grassland, tall grassland, encroached grassland, shrubland and forest. Our results clearly highlighted a strong response of collembolan assemblages to vegetation gradient. The changes in collembolan diversity were due to a high turnover rate in early successional stages and to nestedness in late successional stages. In addition, each collembolan life form had a specific response to vegetal succession. Euedaphic assemblages increased progressively during the succession while epedaphic did not follow a clear pattern. Our results also indicated a link between the dynamics of collembolan assemblages and plant life forms (e.g. trees and graminoids) rather than plant diversity. A focus on life forms, for plants and soil biota, seems to provide a good framework to study linkages between above and belowground biota. |
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Keywords: | Aboveground Belowground Secondary succession Collembola Life-forms Diversity |
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