JOURNAL OF NANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITY ›› 2023, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (5): 224-230.doi: 10.12302/j.issn.1000-2006.202203050

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Interactive effects of stand development and seasonality on soil arthropod community in poplar plantations

LIU Xingjie1(), WU Qiqi1(), LI Yuanyuan1,2,*(), RUAN Honghua2, DING Xuenong3, CAO Guohua3, SHEN Caiqin3   

  1. 1. School of Food Science, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China
    2. College of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
    3. Dongtai City Forest Farm of Jiangsu Province, Dongtai 224200, China
  • Received:2022-03-22 Revised:2022-10-24 Online:2023-09-30 Published:2023-10-10

Abstract:

【Objective】Soil arthropods are important components of soil biodiversity and play a critical role in ecosystems. Although afforestation with poplar plantations can improve soil properties in the saline soils of coastal area, little is known about the impact of plantation stand development on soil arthropods.【Method】In this study, we determined the community dynamics of soil dwelling arthropods across three aged poplar plantations (i.e., 5-, 10-, and 21-year-old) through a randomized block design with three repeated blocks over the course of one year, which included four sampling dates (i.e., spring, May; summer, August; autumn, November; and winter, February) in a coastal area of northern Jiangsu Province, China. 【Result】Prostigmata, Oribatida, Hymenoptera, Collembola, and Coleoptera comprised the dominant orders and together accounted for 89.4% of the total individuals. On average, both total number and those richness were the highest in the 10-year-old stands and the lowest in the 5-year-old stands and were higher in May and August than species in November and February. The abundance, Order richness, and community composition of soil arthropods were significantly affected by stand age, sampling date and their interaction. The total abundance showed strong age-dependent trends in May and August but not in February and November. Order richness was the highest in both 10- and 21-year-old stands observed in May and August. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated that Order composition also differed strongly with sampling date and stand age, with 10-year-old stands sampled in May distinct from other sampling dates. 【Conclusion】The abundance and richness of soil arthropods in 10-year-old stands were higher than number in 5-year-old stands, and impact of stand age on the soil arthropod community depended on the seasonal changes. Our results highlight that both stand development and climate seasonality act strongly on soil arthropod community dynamics in the poplar plantations, while the related mechanisms need a further study.

Key words: soil fauna, saline soil, Collembola, Oribatida, Prostigmata, biodiversity

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