Community Structure, Distribution and Population Dynamics of Entomobryidae (Collembola)

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Abstract
(a) Entomobryid Collembola were sampled over 4 years in eight woodland habitats, differing in soil and litter type. (2) Ranked abundance curves for each community were approximately linear on a semi-log scale. Evenness was higher in the youngest woodland which was situated in a polder. In older mainland habitats the first three species in the sequence showed a more extreme pattern of dominance. (3) Population density of hygric Tomocerus species was lowest in woodlands with more heterogeneous moisture regimes whereas population density of the drought-tolerant species Orchesella cincta was high in these areas. (4) The degree of spatial aggregation of a species appeared to be unrelated to its drought sensitivity or to spatial heterogeneity in moisture regime of the habitat, but in general depended on population density. (5) The intensity of temporal fluctuations in population number was density-dependent and unrelated to environmental heterogeneity.