Characteristics of soil fauna community in forest floor at different climate zone,China

Forest litter and soil fauna are important in forest ecosystem processes where they help to regulate nutrient dynamics and soil quality,and are useful bioindicators of ecosystem condition and change.To study the characteristics of soil fauna community in forest floor,we collected soil fauna from Sept.2001 to Sept.2002 using litterbags in 8 forests in different climate zone,including Korean Pine forest(Pinus koraiensis)and mixed forest(Larch(Larix gmelinii)and Birch(Betula Platyphylla))of Maoershan in Heilongjiang Province,Robur Forest(Quercus liaotungensis)and mixed forest(Robur(Quercus liaotungensis)and Chinese pine(Pinus tabulaeformis))in Beijing,Fir forest(Cunninghamia lanceolata)and mixed forest(Fir and Chinese Tulip Tree(Liriodendron chinense))of Dagangshan in Jiangxi Province and Monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest(Superba schima forest(Schima superba)and Chinese Cryptocarya(Cryptocarya chinensis))and pine and broad-leaf mixed forest(Masson pine(Pinus massoniana)and Superba schima) of Dinghushan in Guangdong Province.We sampled 74 times and totally collected 29123 individuals of soil animal,belonging to 4 Phylums,14 Classes,30 Orders.Among them,4492 individuals were macrofauna,24631 were meso and microfauna.Mite and springtails were the most dominant species in the collection.The composition of soil fauna in forest floor were significantly impacted by the forest litter(x2(7) =18.867,P0.01).Significant difference in the composition of soil fauna were detected between forests in Maoershan and Dinghushan,between Jiulongsahn and Dinghushan,between Dagangshan and Dinghushan(P 0.001).Our data showed that both the monthly individual and group of soil macrofauna in average were significantly decreased as the latitude increased,while the average of monthly individual of soil meso and microfauna were usually increased as the latitude increased.The mean individual of soil fauna was significantly difference between months(X2(66)=37.95,P 0.001),the difference between in diversity index and evenness index was significant monthly(X2(66) = 26.38,X2(66) = 328.97,P0.001).The highest community diversity and evenness of soil fauna was recorded in Dinghushan.The soil fauna in forest floor were most similarity between forests in Dagangshan and Dinghushan by similarity coefficients analysis,while the lowest similarity was found between forests in Maoershan and Dinghushan.Our data revealed that the mean annual temperature produced the most effect on soil fauna in forest floor,the second effect factor was the soil organic matter(surface soil),soil pH was the third,and annual relative moisture played minimum role in the soil fauna.The environment factors had different effect on the key soil fauna community.