Structure of the Species Diversity of Soil Springtails (Hexapoda, Collembola) in Pine Forests of the Caucasus and the Russian Plain: a Multi-Scale Approach

An annotated checklist of the springtails (Hexapoda: Collembola) recorded from the foothill and mountain parts of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, North Caucasus, Russia

“…The known distribution area covers central and northern Europe, as well as southwestern Greenland. In the nature reserve, it was found in low abun-dance in pine forests [Kuznetsova et al, 2019]. In our material, the species has been found dominating among the other congeners in a developed birch forest at an altitude of 2244 m a.s.l., and one specimen has been recorded at a grassy successional stage (2320 m a.s.l.…”

“…A polyzonal Palaearctic species ranging in Europe from the Mediterranean to northern Norway [Zimdars and Dunger, 1994], also occurring in the southwestern part of Greenland [Fjellberg, 2015] and in Central Siberia [Babenko, 2007]. In the nature reserve, it was recorded from mature pine forests with well-developed litter [Kuznetsova et al, 2019]. At Tsey, we have found this species in a mixed forest at an altitude of 2193 m a.s.l., as well as in a maple and a beech forest (1984 m and 1865 m a.s.l., respectively).…”

“…tenuisensillata Rusek, 1974. A trans-Palaearctic species common both in forest [Kuznetsova et al, 2019; our data] and grassy stations of the nature reserve. Along with M. macrochaeta, it has been recorded among the species inhabiting the earlier stages of overgrowth.…”

“…This is a mainly European and highly polyzonal species, also recorded from Greenland and the Antilles. According to Kuznetsova et al [2019] and our collections from the nature reserve, the species is confined to varied mature forests.…”

“…The first annotated list of the springtails of the North Ossetian Nature Reserve, published by Kuchiev [2006], proves to be quite outdated as the taxonomy of many genera has since changed considerably and at least some of his records require a cautious approach. There are also a number of ecological studies [Kremenitsa, 2002;Kuznetsova et al, 2019] carried out over the territory of the North Ossetian Nature Reserve or in its immediate vicinities. The above contributions have significantly expanded the list of springtails of North Ossetia, although it is clearly premature to con-ABSTRACT: The present review of the springtail fauna of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania is based on both existing published information and new material collected recently in the Tsey Gorge by the authors.…”