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Size-specific mortality patterns in two species of forest floor Collembola

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Summary

Forest floor populations of Orchesella cincta (L) and Tomocerus minor (Lubbock) (Collembola; Entomobryidae) have been sampled over two generations and from length frequency distributions survivorship curves were constructed for each generation. Size-specific mortality rates were computed from size-specific survivorship data. The results reveal an asymmetrically U-shaped mortality pattern, with disproportionally high juvenile mortality. The pattern changes from one generation to the next, in particular the post-hatching mortality. Evidence from behavioural ecological research on a Collembola-specialized ground beetle is cited in favour of the hypothesis that size-specific mortality patterns are moulded by size-specific predation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biologisch Laboratorium, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1087, Postbus 7161, NL1007 MC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Nico M. van Straalen

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  1. Nico M. van Straalen
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van Straalen, N.M. Size-specific mortality patterns in two species of forest floor Collembola. Oecologia 67, 220–223 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384288

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384288

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