Vertical distribution and abundance of arthropods in the soil of a Neotropical secondary forest during the rainy season∗

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Abstract
About 64,000 arthropods per m2 soil were extracted in a secondary dryland forest at Manaus, Brazil, during the rainy season in early 1986. About 74% of all arthropods lived in the top 3.5 cm, 14% below the humus layer (3.5–7 cm depth), and only 12% in 7–14 cm depth. Acari and Collembola represented more than 72% of the total catch. Decreasing abundance was significantly correlated with lower soil humidity at greater soil depths. Vertical distribution of arthropods corresponded with data obtained during the dry season in late 1985 from the same forest. Consequently, neither during the rainy season nor during the dry season was the abundance of arthropods in mineral subsoils higher in response to the changing humidity in organic layers, as reported from forests in the seasonal tropics.