Biodiversity of Edaphic Fauna in Gray Forest Soils of the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Gray forest soils of the natural ecosystems in the central and northern zones of the Republic of Moldova are the habitat and the source of conservation and reproduction of the edaphic fauna. They represent themselves the standards of the biodiversity for soil invertebrates. Invertebrates sampling was carried out from test cuts by manual sampling of soil layers to the depth of soil fauna occurrence. The main content of invertebrates in gray soils under the forest was in the layer of 0-20 cm. In addition to the Lumbricidae family there were found the species of the Clubionidae, Hydromiidae, Scarabaeidae, Oniscidae, Tortricidae, Julidae, Curculionidae, Carabidae, Geophilidae, Tenebrionidae, Melandryidae and Formicidae families. Species of Eisenia rosea, Euomphalia strigella, Formica rufa, Tortrix viridana, Curculio glandium, Melolontha melolontha and others have been identified in three subtypes of gray forest soils of natural ecosystems. The long use of these soils in agricultural production led to the considerable decrease in the number and biomass of invertebrates and degradation of the faunal complex in general. The number of families decreased from 6-12 to 1-3. Species of Lumbricidae, Elateridae, Tortricidae and Coccinellidae have been found in arable gray forest soils. The trophic pyramids are stable in the typical virgin gray soil. The relationship between trophic levels of the edaphic fauna in the typical gray forest soil is stronger in comparison with albic and molic gray forest soils.