Correlation Between the Animal Community Structure and Environmental Factors in Dongbei Cave and Shuijiang Cave of Guizhou Province

Mollusks, arthropods and chordates which were visible to the naked eye were observed and collected in Dongbei and Shuijiang caves of Libo county five times between February and July from 2002 to 2005. Four hundred and forty samples from Dongbei Cave were classified into three phyla, five classes, 10 orders, 20 families and 39 species or groups of species. Four hundred and ninety-eight samples from Shuijiang Cave were classified into three phyla, six classes, 11 orders, 20 families and 25 species or groups of species. Six animal communities were identified in the light belt of the two caves according to their species types and numbers of individuals in the light belt of two cave. The communities which have the highest values of species richness community diversity, maximum diversity, evenness, dominance and community similarity are respectively： B （4. 1059）, H （2.4716）, B （3.3322）, E （0.9042）, C （0.3442） and A - C （0. 5251）. The community diversity and correlation of environmental factors were also studied. The temperature, humidity, content of CO2 and N2, content of organic matter and some inorganic salts in soil were analyzed by Pearson correlation. The results showed that the content of organic matter in soil is positively related to species number, species richness and maximum community diversity, with correlations of 0. 885, 0.909, 0. 868 respectively （two-tailed significance test, P ≤ 0. 05）, and significantly positively related to diversity, with the coefficient of 0.611, （two-tailed significance test, P ≤ 0. 1）. This suggests that the content of organic matter in soil is one of the important elements influencing the community variation of cave animals. Outside the cave, temperature and humidity are important factors impacting on community diver- sity. As the temperature in all seasons in the cave is stable and the humidity is always high （above 90% ）, the temperature and humidity have weak correlation to community diversity in caves.

Soil animal communities at five succession stages in the litter of the evergreen broad-leaved forest in Tiantong,China

Soil animals are abundant in forest litter layer,but little attention has been paid to the vertical distribution of community structure of soil animals in the layers at different plant community succession stages.The forest litter layer can be divided into fresh litter layer(L),fermentation layer(F)and humus layer(H),which may represent different litter decomposition stages.The aim of the study is to ascertain the vertical distribution features of soil animal communities among the three litter layers and the change in the succession process of the Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest(EBLF)in Tiantong,Zhejiang Province,China.Soil animal communities in the five plant communities at different succession stages were investigated during the 2003 winter.Soil animals,which were collected by using Tullgren funnels,amounted to a total of 13381 individuals falling into 2 phyla,8 classes and 20 orders.The dominant groups were Acarina and Collembola,accounting for 94.24%of the total individuals,with the number of Acarina individuals 7.66 times than that of Collembola.The common group was Diptera.The results indicated that there was a distinctive vertical distribution of the soil animal communities in the forest litter layer,but it differed from that in soil below the litter layer.In contrast to those in the soil,the soil animals in the litter layer generally tended to increase in both group abundance and density from the top fresh litter layer to the bottom humus layer.Altogether 19 groups and 59.03%of total individuals were found in the bottom layer,while only 8 groups and 5.35%of the total individuals in the top.Moreover,there were some variations in the distribution of the soil animals at different plant succession stages.85.19%of Homoptera and 100%of Symphyla were found in the litter layer at the climax succession stage,while 75.61%of Thysanoptera at the intermediate succession stage.Therefore,these groups might be seen as indicative groups.The total numbers of soil animal groups and individuals in the litter layers greatly changed in the succession process of the EBLF.They both were greatest at the climax,moderate at the intermediate and smallest at the primary succession stage.However,the main soil animal groups in the litter at the different succession stages were essentially the same.They were Acarina,Collembola,Diptera and Lepidoptera.Although similarity analysis revealed that the soil animal communities in the litter at the intermediate succession stage were most similar to those at the climax succession stage,they differed greatly from each other in the Shannon-Wiener diversity index.The Shannon-Wiener index was highest at the climax succession stage and lowest at the intermediate succession stage.Finally,the paper discusses the following three questions:the role of soil animals as indicators for plant community succession;the role of different soil animal groups in the litter decomposition at different stages;and the major factors affecting the composition and distribution of soil animals in the litter.This paper provides a new perspective for the research on the succession mechanism of plant communities and the decomposition functions of soil animals.

Effects of Seasonal and Perennial Grazing on Soil Fauna Community and Microbial Biomass Carbon in the Subalpine Meadows of Yunnan, Southwest China

Grazing and over-grazing may drive changes in the diversity and functioning of below-ground meadow ecosystems. A field soil survey was conducted to compare microbial biomass carbon （Cmin） and soil fauna communities in the two main grassland management systems in subalpine regions of Yunnan Province, China： perennial grazing currently practiced due to increasing herd sizes and traditional seasonal grazing. A three-year exclosure experiment was then conducted to further compare the effects of different grazing practices, including treatments of no mowing, perennial grazing （NM ＋ G）, mowing followed by seasonal grazing （M ＋ G）, mowing and no grazing （M ＋ NG）, and no mowing or grazing （NM ＋ NG）. The comparative survey result revealed that Cmin and total density of soil fauna were significantly lower at a perennially grazed site than at a seasonally grazed site. The experiment results showed that in comparison to non-grazing treatments （M ＋ NG and NM ＋ NG）, grazing （NM ＋ G and M ＋ G） reduced total fauna density （by 150 individuals m-2） and the number of taxonomic groups present （by 0.32 taxa m-2）. Mowing decreased Cmin （by 0.31 mg g-l）. Furthermore, the NM ＋ G treatment （perennial grazing） had the lowest density of Collembola （16.24 individuals m-2）, one of the two most common taxonomic groups, although other taxonomic groups responded differently to the treatments. Treatment effects on soil fauna were consistent with those on above-ground grasses, in which C：N ratios were greatly reduced by grazing, with this effect being the greatest for the NM ＋ G treatment. In contrast, different grazing treatments had little effect on C：N ratio of soil. Furthermore, the traditional grazing method （mowing followed by seasonal grazing） may have less severe effects on some taxonomic groups than perennial grazing. Therefore, an appropriate management should aim to protect soil fauna and microbes in this area from over-grazing and against further degradation.