Collembola (Arthropoda) communities of forest ecosystems in Changbai Mountain, northeast China: Trophic structure, changes with altitude and response to increased temperature

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Collembola (sprintails) are among the most abundant and diverse soil animals contributing significantly to major ecosystem processes such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. Global changes in temperature and precipitation are likely to affect their community structure and functioning and this is likely to differ along altitudinal gradients. The project focuses on Collembola communities of forest ecosystems along altitudinal gradients in northeastern China (Changbai Mountain). It aims at investigating (1) changes in the community structure of Collembola along altitudinal transects spanning from about 800 to 1850 m, (2) changes in the trophic structure of Collembola along these altitudinal transects, (3) assembly mechanisms of Collembola communities using community phylogenetics, and (4) the response of Collembola communities to experimental warming simulating an increase in temperature predicted to occur in the 21st century. Community structure of Collembola will be based on sampling Collembola along three replicated altitudinal transects at hight intervals of 150 m and determining Collembola to species / morphospecies. The trophic structure of Collembola will be investigated using natural variations in stable isotope signatures and lipid analysis. As basis for using community phylogenetics, Collembola species will be sequenced using a set of markers allowing to quantify genetic relationships of local species. Traits of species will be mapped on the phylogenetic tree to evaluate phylogenetic signal and allow to identify traits responsible for changes in community composition with altitude. The response of Collembola to increased temperature will be investigated in a full factorial experiment incubating in the laboratory soil cores taken in the field by simulating an increase in temperature of 2°C and 4°C, and inspecting changes in community structure, trophic niches and trait distribution of Collembola species. Overall, the study aims at using Collembola as model soil organisms for identifying traits responsible for soil animal community assembly processes across a wide range of environmental conditions, thereby identifying the mechanisms driving these changes and allowing to predict changes in soil animal communities with global temperature changes.