Abstract
The effects of Elateridae larvae (wireworms) on the structure, functional diversity, and tolerance of the soil microbial population in steppe ecosystems have been investigated. The trophic and locomotor activity of wireworms leads to an appreciable increase in bacterial abundance and suppression of fungal activity. The fungal hyphae in the presence of wireworms are significantly damaged, which can be related to the feeding activity of Elateridae. The increase of bacterial abundance on the background of exclusion of the fungal component shifts the microbial succession to the acceleration of organic matter mineralization. The microbial consumption of monoand oligosaccharides, alcohols, and water-soluble compounds increases in the presence of wireworms (multisubstrate test). The effect of Elateridae larvae on the microorganisms transforming nitrogen compounds is species-specific. Agriotes obscurus activity decreases their consumption of urea and creatinine by 2.1–2.5 times, and Selatosomus aeneus increases it by 1.3 and 2.5 times, respectively. The intensity of actual nitrogen fixation in the soil increases in the presence of wireworms by almost 4 times, but the losses of gaseous nitrogen do not increase because of the decrease in both the denitrification and methanogenesis rates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, J.M., Huish, S.A., Ineson, P., Leonard, M.A., and Splatt, P.R., Interactions of invertebrates, microorganisms and tree roots in nitrogen and mineral element fluxes in deciduous wood-land soils, in Ecological Interactions in Soil, Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1985, pp. 377–392.
Beklemishev, V.N., Classification of biocoenotic (simphysiological) relationships, Byull. Mosk. O-va Ispyt. Prir., Otd. Biol. 1951, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 3–30.
Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, Holt, J.G. and Krieg, N.R., Eds., Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1994, 9th ed.
Churkina, G., Kunanbayev, K., and Akhmetova, G., The taxonomic composition of soil microorganisms in the ecosystems of southern chernozem of Northern Kazakhstan, Appl. Technol. Innov., 2012, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 13–19.
Dolin, V.G., Trophic links of click beetles, in Materialy k izucheniyu fauny i ekologii nasekomykh tsentral’nykh raionov lesostepi Ukrainy (The Materials for Analysis of Fauna and Ecology of Insects in Central Parts of Ukrainian ForestSteppe), Kyiv: Urozhai, 1963, pp. 116–147.
Dolin, V.G., Lichinki zhukov-shchelkunov (provolochiniki) evropeiskoi chasti SSSR (Click Beetle Larvae in European Part of the Soviet Union), Kyiv: Urozhai, 1964.
Gorlenko, M.V. and Kozhevin, P.A., Mul’tisubstratnoe testirovanie prirodnykh mikrobnykh soobshchestv (Multisubstrate Tests of Natural Microbial Communities), Moscow: MAKS-Press, 2005.
Karnaukhov, V.N., Lyuministsentnyi analiz kletok (Luminescent Analysis of the Cells), Pushchino: Analiticheskaya Mikroskopiya, 2004.
Kozlovskaya, L.S., Rol’ bespozvonochnykh v transformatsii organicheskogo veshchestva bolotnykh pochv (Role of Invertebrates in Transformation of Organic Matter of Mire Soils), Leningrad: Nauka, 1976.
Lysak, L.V., Dobrovol’skaya, T.G., and Skvortsova, I.N., Metody otsenki bakterial’nogo raznoobraziya pochv i identifikatsii pochvennykh bakterii (Diversity Analysis and Identification of Soil Bacteria), Moscow: MAKS-Press, 2003.
Metody pochvennoi mikrobiologii i biokhimii (Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry), Zvyagintsev, D.G., Ed., Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1991.
Mishustin, E.N., Assotsiatsii pochvennykh mikroorganizmov (Associations of Soil Microorganisms), Moscow: Nauka, 1975.
Nesterenko, O.A., Kvasnikov, E.I., and Nogina, T.M., Nokardiopodobnye i korinepodobnye bakterii (Nocardiform and Coryneform Bacteria), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka, 1985.
Samoylova, E.S., Kostina, N.V., and Striganova, B.R., Non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the intestine of click beetle larvae (Coleoptera, Elateridae), Dokl. Biol. Sci., 2015, vol. 461, no. 1, pp. 92–95.
Samoylova, E.S. and Striganova, B.R., Peculiarities of the biotope distribution of click beetle larvae (Coleoptera, Elateridae) in the Irtysh River valley, Biol. Bull., 2013, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 550–557.
Starr, M.P., Stolp, H., Trüper, H.G., Balows, A., and Schlegel, H.G., The Prokaryotes. A Handbook on Habitats, Isolation, and Identification of Bacteria, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1981.
Stepanov, A.L. and Lysak, L.V., Metody gazovoi khromatografii v pochvennoi biologii (Implementation of Gas Chromatography in Soil Microbiology), Moscow: MAKSPress, 2002.
Striganova, B.R., Zakonomernosti stroeniya organov pitaniya lichinok zhestkokrylykh (Structure of Digestive Organs of Coleopterous Larvae), Moscow: Nauka, 1966.
Umarov, M.M., Assotsiativnaya azotfiksatsiya (Associative Nitrogen Fixation), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1986.
Umarov, M.M., Kurakov, A.V., and Stepanov, A.L., Mikrobiologicheskaya transformatsiya azota v pochve (Microbiological Transformation of Nitrogen in Soil), Moscow: GEOS, 2007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © E.S. Samoilova, N.V. Kostina, B.R. Striganova, 2015, published in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya, 2015, No. 6, pp. 653–660.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Samoilova, E.S., Kostina, N.V. & Striganova, B.R. Effects of the vital activity of soil insect larvae on microbial processes in the soil. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 42, 563–569 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359015060102
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359015060102