An introductory study of subterranean communities of invertebrates in forested talus habitats in southern Slovakia

0459112 - BC 2017 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Mock, A. - Šašková, T. - Raschmanová, N. - Jászay, T. - Luptáčik, P. - Rendoš, M. - Tajovský, Karel - Jászayová, A.
An introductory study of subterranean communities of invertebrates in forested talus habitats in southern Slovakia.
Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae. Roč. 79, č. 3 (2015), s. 243-256. ISSN 1211-376X
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) 7AMB12SK189
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : invertebrates * forested talus * vertical distribution * Cerová vrchovina Mts * Revúcka vrchovina Mts
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

This study of subterranean communities of invertebrates was carried out at two talus sites located in protected areas in southern Slovakia that differ in the nature of the bedrocks: the Belinské skaly, Cerová vrchovina Mts with basalt bedrock and Drienok Valley, Revúcka vrchovina Mts, with limestone bedrock. In May 2012, three perforated PVC tubes (11 cm in diameter) were buried vertically in deposits on slopes at both of these sites. In each tube there were 10 removable pitfall traps located at from 5 to 95 cm bellow the soil surface and filled with either formaldehyde or ethylene glycol as a preservative. Invertebrates were collected from the traps in June and October 2012. In this paper, we present the first results of this comparative study. In total 4,520 invertebrates were caught of which 99.8% were arthropods and the rest were mainly gastropods and annelids. Springtails (1,742 inds., 50 spp.) and beetles (154 inds., 40 spp.) were the most diverse in terms of species and were caught in all the traps. Springtails were the most abundant making up 38.5% of the total catch compared to beetles that made up only 3.4%. No obligate cavernicolous species was recorded in the first set of samples. However, some arthropods associated with subterranean habitats were recorded in the October samples. The millipede Archiboreoiulus pallidus (Brade-Birks, 1920) was recorded in the volcanic talus deposit, the woodlouse Mesoniscus graniger (Frivaldszky, 1865) and carabid beetle Duvalius bokori (Csiki, 1910) in the limestone talus. The staphylinid beetle Atheta pervagata Benick, 1975 and three taxonomically uncertain species of Collembola belonging to the genus Pseudosinella with troglomorphic traits, were recorded at both the volcanic and limestone sites. The millipede A. pallidus and springtail Pygmarrhopalites elegans cassagnau et Delamare Deboutteville, 1953 are reported for the first time occurring in Slovakia.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0259379