Oecologia

, Volume 31, Issue 2, pp 215–226 | Cite as

Formation and ecological significance of aggregations in collembola

An experimental study
  • Herman A. Verhoef
  • C. J. Nagelkerke
Article
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Summary

Spatial distribution in the two collembolan species Tomocerus minor and Orchesella cincta is greatly influenced by the distribution of the environmental factors water and food. T. minor is totally restricted in distribution to water-saturated places, where it forms spaced-out aggregations. O. cincta assembles in water-saturated places during ecdysis and subsequent reproduction. This leads to dense contact-aggregations. ‘Dispersal’ follows during the feeding period, probably caused by food shortage, presence of other species and/or saturated conditions in the aggregation site. After feeding, orientation toward water-saturated places occurs by means of orthokinetic reactions and the aggregations are reestablished. The effect of this ‘periodical aggregation” for the population is discussed.

Keywords

Environmental Factor Spatial Distribution Saturated Condition Food Shortage Ecological Significance 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1977

Authors and Affiliations

  • Herman A. Verhoef
    • 1
  • C. J. Nagelkerke
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of BiologyFree UniversityAmsterdam-BuitenveldertThe Netherlands

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