Diversity and Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Soil Macrofauna Communities Along Elevation in the Changbai Mountain, China

Abstract

The understanding of patterns of vertical variation and diversity of flora and fauna along elevational change has been well established over the past century. However, it is unclear whether there is an elevational distribution pattern for soil fauna. This study revealed the diversity and spatial-temporal distribution of soil macrofauna communities in different vegetation zones from forest to alpine tundra along elevation of the Changbai Mountain, China. The abundance, richness, and Shannon-Wiener diversity index of soil macrofauna communities were compared in four distinguished vegetation zones including the coniferous and broadleaved mixed forest zone, the coniferous forest zone, the subalpine dwarf birch (Betula ermanii) forest zone, and the alpine tundra zone. Soil macrofauna were extracted in May, July, and September of 2009. In each season, the abundance and richness of the soil macrofauna decreased with the ascending elevation. The Shannon-Wiener diversity indices of the soil macrofauna were higher in the vegetation zones of lower elevation than of higher elevation. Significant differences were observed in the abundance, richness, and Shannon-Wiener diversity index for the studied vegetation zones. Soil macrofauna congregated mainly to the litter layer in the low-elevation areas and in the 0-5 cm soil layer of the higher elevation areas. The results emphasized that the diversity of soil macrofauna communities decreased as the elevation increased and possess the distinct characteristics of zonation in the mountain ecosystem. The diversity and distribution of soil macrofauna communities were influenced by mean annual precipitation, altitude, annual radiation quantity, and mean annual temperature.

Temperature and soil nutrients drive the spatial distributions of soil macroinvertebrates on the eastern Tibetan Plateau

“…This is inconsistent with the results in temperate forests in the Changbai Mountains (Yin et al. ) and tropical forests in the Gaoligong Mountains (Xiao et al. ).…”

“…, Yin et al. ). Contrary to our first hypothesis, the individual abundance, family richness, and diversity of soil macroinvertebrates increased with increasing elevation on the eastern Tibetan Plateau in our study (Fig.…”

“…, Yin et al. , Karungi et al. ), knowledge of the direct or indirect correlation between biodiversity and elevation is unclear.…”

“…, Yin et al. ) and increase (Sadaka and Ponge ), a hump‐shaped pattern of abundance (Xiao et al. ) or no trend with increasing elevation (Wu et al.…”

Macrofauna del suelo y condiciones edafoclimáticas en un gradiente altitudinal de zonas cafeteras, Huila, Colombia

“…ISSN Impreso: 0034-7744 ISSN electrónico: 2215-2075 climático se ha convertido en un tema principal para estudiar la ecología del suelo, dado que se ha demostrado que las funciones proporcionadas por la macrofauna del suelo dependen del clima (García-Palacios, Maestre, Kattge, & Wall, 2013;Yin, Qiu, Jiang, & Wang, 2017). En particular la temperatura, desempeñan un papel importante a lo largo del gradiente altitudinal y afectan la dinámica de la macrofauna del suelo (Tan et al, 2013).…”