Soil fauna across Central European sandstone ravines with temperature inversion: From cool and shady to dry and hot places

0432868 - BC 2015 RIV NL eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Schlaghamerský, J. - Devetter, Miloslav - Háněl, Ladislav - Tajovský, Karel - Starý, Josef - Tuf, I.H. - Pižl, Václav
Soil fauna across Central European sandstone ravines with temperature inversion: From cool and shady to dry and hot places.
Applied Soil Ecology. Roč. 83, November (2014), s. 30-38. ISSN 0929-1393. E-ISSN 1873-0272
Grant ostatní: EEA Financial Mechanism(NO) CZ0048
Výzkumný záměr: CEZ:AV0Z60660521
Institucionální podpora: RVO:60077344
Klíčová slova: soil fauna * ravines * gorges * environmental gradients * species richnes * drought
Kód oboru RIV: EH - Ekologie - společenstva
Impakt faktor: 2.644, rok: 2014

Sandstone massifs with deep ravines or gorges offer the instructive opportunity to study the response of organisms to steep environmental gradients. In 2008-2010, many groups of soil fauna were studied along transects across three ravines in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park (north-western Czech Republic), a part of the Elbe Sandstone Massif. Each transect included five sampling positions: two opposite edges, two opposite mid-slope positions, and the ravine bottom. The ravines had a specific microclimate characterized by temperature inversion. In general, the cooler and more humid ravine bottoms had also less acid soil with lower carbon content but enriched by litter of deciduous trees and herbs. The other transect positions were characterized by spruce (mid-slopes) and pine (edges) stands with mor humus, exposed to drought in the upper parts. The soil animal communities (identified to species level) differed substantially in dependence on their position along the transects. Ravine bottoms hosted a diverse soil fauna, including a rich macrofauna. The thick duff layer of acid soils on the slopes and edges hosted a poorer fauna but supported high densities of important decomposers such as enchytraeids, oribatid mites and microbivorous nematodes. In general, these were higher on the slopes, presumably due to the drought exposure of the edges. Vertical position in the ravine and soil pH were the most important factors explaining community composition. This confirmed that the area's high geomorphological diversity, leading to steep microclimatic gradients and heterogenous soil conditions, is a major cause of its high biodiversity. A shift in community structure in the lower parts of the ravines, observed after the first half of the study period, was possibly caused by summer flash floods.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0238559