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Long-Term Observations of Soil Mesofauna

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Abstract

General problems connected with planning, sampling, and data processing of long-term research of soil mesofauna are discussed, based on two case studies: (i) the Bremen study of predatory mites (Gamasina) covering 20 years of secondary succession on a ruderal site in northern Germany and (ii) the Mazsalaca study of the effects of climate warming on Collembola of coniferous stands in the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve, Latvia, covering 11 years. The findings from both sites are embedded in an array of environmental data. The results from Bremen document the asynchrony of different biota in successional dynamics. The long-lasting increase of the species numbers of soil predatory mites (Gamasina) is contrasted by a decrease in plant species numbers. In the Baltic forests, climate change is indicated by the dynamics of collembolan community. Gradual decline in species richness has been observed from 1992 to 2002 attributed to global warming. The ‘temporal window’ or time unit to discern changes in soil mesofauna communities seems to span approx. 5 years, highlighting the necessity of long-term observations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    C = soil carbon by incineration, N = total nitrogen content, DM= dry mass.

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Acknowldgments

Siedenburg Study: The first author is greatly indebted to Prof. G. Weidemann, the initiator and fervent advocate of long-term ecosystem-oriented research and to Dr. J. Müller, long-term vegetation researcher and friend. Many dedicated students contributed to our work and the technicians Ute Uebers and Annemarie Kissling strongly supported our investigations. The University of Bremen and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) have supported the studies temporarily. The evaluation of 20 years of data was supported within the BIOLOG framework (BMBF; 01LC0005 2000–2002).

The Mazsalaca study was supported by several successive grants from the Council of Science of Latvia (CSL). The CSL supported the development of the national long-term research network. We are grateful to the Environmental Office of US Embassy in Copenhagen and US National Science Foundation (NSF) for providing initial financial support for the implementation of the Latvia LTER in 2003–2004. We appreciate also further support coming from US LTER, NSF, European Environmental Agency as well as financial assistance from ALTER-net project making possible our participation in ILTER and European LTER meetings.

Many thanks to Dr. Klaus Birkhofer, University of Giessen, and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on a previous manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology (UFT), University of Bremen, Leobener Strasse, D-28359, Bremen, Germany

    Hartmut Koehler

  2. Institute of Biology, University of Latvia, Miera iela 3, LV-2169, Salaspils, Latvia

    Viesturs Melecis

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  1. Hartmut Koehler
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Correspondence to Hartmut Koehler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ökologie-Zentrum, Universität zu Kiel, Olshausenstr. 75, Kiel, 24118, Germany

    Felix Müller

  2. Dept. Biozönoseforschung, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, Halle, 06120, Germany

    Cornelia Baessler

  3. Universität Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3, Rostock, 18055, Germany

    Hendrik Schubert

  4. Dept. Biozönoseforschung, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, Halle, 06120, Germany

    Stefan Klotz

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Koehler, H., Melecis, V. (2010). Long-Term Observations of Soil Mesofauna. In: Müller, F., Baessler, C., Schubert, H., Klotz, S. (eds) Long-Term Ecological Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8782-9_15

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