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The impact of disturbance and ensuing forestry practices on Collembola in monitored stands of windthrown forest in the Tatra National Park (Slovakia)

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Abstract

Soil Collembola communities were investigated in spruce forest stands of the High Tatra Mts that had been heavily damaged by a windstorm in November 2004 and subsequently by a wildfire in July 2005. The study focused on the impact of these disturbances and forestry practices on collembolan community distribution and structure 4 years after the disturbance. Four different treatments were selected for this study: intact forest stands (REF), non-extracted windthrown stands (NEX), clear-cut windthrown stands (EXT) and burnt windthrown stands (FIR). From a total of 7,820 individuals, 72 species were identified. The highest total abundance mean was recorded in FIR stands followed by NEX and EXT stands and, surprisingly, the lowest in REF stands. The highest total species richness was observed in REF stands, followed by NEX stands and FIR stands and the lowest in EXT stands. In REF and NEX stands, the most abundant species were Folsomia penicula and Tetracanthella fjellbergi, while in heavily damaged stands, the most abundant was Anurophorus laricis. The ordination method used demonstrated a significant influence of treatment on the abundance of Collembola. ANOVA used confirmed significant differences for all dominant species between treatments. The present study shows the negative impact of windthrow on Collembola communities as reflected in decreased species richness and abundance. However, disturbance by fire caused a considerable increase in collembolan abundance 3 years after the event. Moreover, we show that clearing of windthrown spruce forests after a windstorm is less favourable for communities of soil collembolans and slows down the recovery process.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency VEGA project no. 1/0282/11. We wish to thank Dr. Karel Tajovský and Prof. Šantrůčková (Biological Centre CAS, České Budějovice) for the soil chemical analyses. We thank also Dr. Peter Fleischer and Dr. Barbara Chovancová (Administration of the Tatra National Park, Tatranská Lomnica) for their help during the field work. We are grateful to Kieran Green for language revision of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peter Čuchta.

Appendix

Appendix

List of Collembola species and their mean abundance (individuals per square metre) in study stands in the High Tatra Mts in 2008 (for abbreviations of treatments, see text)

Abbreviation

Species

REF

NEX

EXT

FIR

A total

ALFU

Allacma fusca (Linné, 1758)

17

0

0

0

4

APCU

Anurophorus cuspidatus Stach, 1922

33

0

2,900

1,417

1,088

APLA

Anurophorus laricis Nicolet, 1842

67

767

4,850

18,350

6,008

CEAR

Ceratophysella armata (Nicolet, 1841)

450

17

217

4,250

1,233

CEDE

Ceratophysella denticulata (Bagnall, 1941)

17

83

0

2,933

758

CESI

Ceratophysella sigillata (Uzel, 1891)

0

17

0

0

4

CESU

Ceratophysella succinea (Gisin, 1949)

17

0

17

0

8

DRDI

Desoria divergens (Axelson, 1900)

50

33

0

17

25

DRDU

Desoria duodecemoculata (Denis, 1927)

300

0

633

317

313

DRVO

Desoria violacea (Tullberg, 1876)

117

0

0

50

42

DP

Deuteraphorura sp. juv.

0

17

0

0

4

DC

Dicyrtoma sp. juv.

17

0

0

0

4

EN

Entomobryidae juv.

17

33

83

183

79

FOIN

Folsomia inoculata Stach, 1947

100

33

0

17

38

FOMA

Folsomia manolachei Bagnall, 1939

217

383

1,483

867

738

FOPE

Folsomia penicula Bagnall, 1939

9,383

5,250

1,933

3,767

5,083

FOSE

Folsomia sensibilis Kseneman, 1936

450

183

200

100

233

FRMI

Friesea mirabilis (Tullberg, 1871)

3,650

1,200

1,617

433

1,725

FRTR

Friesea truncata Cassagnau, 1958

1,767

1,550

1,450

533

1,325

HELI

Heterosminthurus linnaniemi (Stach, 1919)

17

0

267

0

71

HPPO

Hymenaphorura polonica Pomorski, 1990

17

33

67

17

33

ILMI

Isotomiella minor (Schäffer, 1896)

3,233

1,917

3,133

1,267

2,388

LELA

Lepidocyrtus lanuginosus (Gmelin, 1788)

0

0

17

67

21

LELI

Lepidocyrtus lignorum (Fabricius, 1775)

367

100

583

200

313

MGMI

Megalothorax minimus Willem, 1900

200

133

67

33

108

MSCR

Mesaphorura critica Ellis, 1976

0

0

0

17

4

MSHY

Mesaphorura hylophila Rusek, 1982

0

17

0

33

13

MSMA

Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek, 1976

0

0

33

0

8

MSSY

Mesaphorura sylvatica (Rusek, 1971)

0

0

0

17

4

MSTE

Mesaphorura tenuisensillata Rusek, 1974

133

17

83

17

63

MSYO

Mesaphorura yosii (Rusek, 1967)

0

17

183

0

50

MEOJ

Mesogastrura ojcoviensis (Stach, 1919)

17

167

50

83

79

MIFO

Micranurida forsslundi Gisin, 1949

33

0

0

0

8

MIGR

Micranurida granulata (Agrell, 1943)

33

0

17

0

13

MIPY

Micranurida pygmaea Börner, 1901

33

0

0

0

8

MRAB

Micraphorura absoloni (Börner, 1901)

150

133

383

333

250

NEMI

Neanura minuta Gisin, 1963

0

0

33

17

13

NEPS

Neanura pseudoparva Rusek, 1963

33

167

33

33

67

NE01

Neanura sp. 1

33

33

0

0

17

OPCR

Oncopodura crassicornis Shoebotham, 1911

0

17

0

33

13

ORBI

Orchesella bifasciata Nicolet, 1842

0

233

17

167

104

ORFL

Orchesella flavescens (Bourlet, 1839)

33

33

17

117

50

ISNO

Parisotoma notabilis (Schäffer, 1896)

217

617

1,033

1,067

733

PGFL

Pogonognathellus flavescens (Tullberg, 1871)

0

83

0

0

21

PRAR

Protaphorura armata (Tullberg, 1869)

933

2,150

933

4,117

2,033

PRAU

Protaphorura aurantiaca (Ridley, 1880)

383

1,550

1,833

1,050

1,204

PRCM

Protaphorura campata (Gisin, 1952)

300

17

817

67

300

PRCA

Protaphorura cancellata (Gisin, 1956)

17

0

0

0

4

PRFI

Protaphorura fimata (Gisin, 1952)

33

0

0

33

17

PRGI

Protaphorura gisini (Haybach, 1960)

17

0

50

0

17

PRPA

Protaphorura pannonica (Haybach, 1960)

433

67

2,383

733

904

PRTR

Protaphorura tricampata (Gisin, 1956)

0

33

0

0

8

PCCO

Pseudachorutes corticicolus (Schäffer, 1896)

33

17

0

0

13

PCDU

Pseudachorutes dubius Krausbauer, 1898

0

0

0

33

8

PCLA

Pseudachorutes laricis Arbea & Jordana, 1984

0

33

17

0

13

PCPA

Pseudachorutes parvulus Börner, 1901

33

17

0

0

13

PCSU

Pseudachorutes subcrassus Tullberg, 1871

0

17

0

0

4

PABI

Pseudanurophorus binoculatus Kseneman, 1934

433

83

83

0

150

PSHO

Pseudosinella horaki Rusek, 1985

433

100

383

167

271

PS01

Pseudosinella sp. 1

17

0

0

33

13

PSZY

Pseudosinella zygophora (Schille, 1908)

67

0

0

0

17

SCUN

Schoettella ununguiculata (Tullberg, 1869)

17

0

0

33

13

SNEL

Sminthurinus elegans (Fitch, 1863)

800

917

583

100

600

SM

Sminthurus sp. juv.

0

0

17

0

4

SP

Sphaeridia juv.

0

33

0

0

8

TEFJ

Tetracanthella fjellbergi Deharveng, 1987

650

12,900

0

100

3,413

TOMR

Tomocerus minor (Lubbock, 1802)

217

133

100

233

171

WLAN

Willemia anophthalma Börner, 1901

717

50

33

0

200

WLBE

Willemia bedosae D’Haese, 1998

33

0

0

0

8

WLDE

Willemia denisi Mills, 1932

0

0

0

17

4

WLSC

Willemia scandinavica Stach, 1949

17

0

0

0

4

WLVI

Willemia virae Kaprus, 1977

17

0

0

0

4

XEBO

Xenylla boerneri Axelson, 1905

17

0

0

0

4

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Čuchta, P., Miklisová, D. & Kováč, Ľ. The impact of disturbance and ensuing forestry practices on Collembola in monitored stands of windthrown forest in the Tatra National Park (Slovakia). Environ Monit Assess 185, 5085–5098 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2927-z

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