Relationships between resource dynamics associated with the spatial structure of forests and arthropod communities in the canopy and soil strata in relation to ecosystem functioning in forests

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Spatiotemporal distribution and the life cycles of arboreal collembolans were investigated in the canopy and soil litter of a Cryptomeria japonica plantation. Six arboreal collembolans were extracted from the canopy litter. From the results of the seasonal changes in the densities and the life cycles of the collembolans, they were divided into two groups : species collected from both the canopy and soil litter, and species only collected from the canopy litter. The vertical and seasonal distributions indicated that the arboreal collembolans had species-specific spatiotemporal patterns. The size distributions of three dominant species suggest that they had different age structures that change differently in response to the vertical structure of the forest. Thus, spatiotemporal patterns of litter and microarthropod commnities in the canopy and soil indicated that the communities would use effectively vertical structure of the forest by having a strategy for the microclimatic conditions i … More n the forest.We also examined how the structural traits of diverse habitats in forests can affect structure and diversity of arthropod communities at the whole-forest scale in a subtropical forest, Japan. We investigated a system comprising bird's nest ferns (Asplenium nidus complex), which hold large amounts of litter inside, and oribatid mites, and focused on the patterns and mechanisms which can sustain oribatid diversity. The number of oribatid species estimated for a hypothetical stand with no fern was about 180 species from 80 samples ; this value did not differ significantly from that in another hypothetical stand with ferns (190 species). Thus, the species richness of oribatid communities estimated for the whole forest was not affected by the presence/absence of the ferns. However, because there were several oribatid species specific to bird's nest ferns, the existence of the ferns may enable diverse organisms to coexist and may enhance the whole biodiversity in this subtropical forest. Less