Assessment of the effects of soil and the site environment on collembolan community structure in deciduous forest and coniferous plantations using soil monolith transfer

摘要

Previous studies have reported differences in collembolan community structure between coniferous plantations and deciduous forests. The reasons for the differences include both soil characteristics and the site environment other than soil. We compared the importance of soil effects on collembolan community structure in coniferous (Japanese cedar) plantation and deciduous forest sites by transferring soil monoliths among them. The soil monoliths included the litter layer, and they were incubated in the field fresh or after defaunation by freezing. They were collected 1 week, 1 month, 10 months, and 13 months after setting.