Abstract

Long-term and seasonal abundance dynamics of soil Apterygota were studied in a five-year field experiment under four agricultural crops in central Sweden: barley with or without N-fertilization, a grass ley and a lucerne ley. Biomass and activity parameters were calculated from abundances. Species composition was similar in all crops. A few Collembola species, notably Folsomia fimetaria (L.) and Tullbergia krausbaueri (BORN.) s.l. dominated while Protura and Diplura were scarce. Total abundance was higher in leys (17 - 31 x 10(3) m-2) than in barley (11 - 13 x 10(3) m-2). No differences due to N-fertilization were found. Vertical distribution in the leys was more superficial than in barley. Differences in seasonal dynamics were found between barley and grass ley. Assuming that Apterygota are exclusive microbivores, their consumption corresponded to 0.3 - 1.0% of the estimated annual microbial production. This is probably an underestimation, mainly due to restricted sampling depth (12 cm).

Keywords

COLLEMBOLA; PROTURA; DIPLURA; AGRICULTURE; BARLEY; GRASS; LUCERNE; NITROGEN FERTILIZER; POPULATION DYNAMICS; FEEDING; RESPIRATION; CARBON FLOW

Published in

Pedobiologia
1991, Volume: 35, number: 6, pages: 337-350

SLU Authors

• Lagerlöf, Jan

  • Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Andrén, Olof

  • Department of Ecology and Environmental Research, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/91749