On the advantage of Folsomia fimetarioides over Isotomiella minor (Collembola) in a metal polluted soil

Summary Food preference, metal avoidance behaviour and desiccation tolerance were investigated for two collembolan species, Folsomia fimetarioides and Isotomiella minor, in order to test some hypotheses for their different distributions in relation to a heavy metal gradient. F. fimetarioides showed a higher preference for metal tolerant fungi than I. minor when they were offered fungi of different metal tolerance. When they could choose between polluted and unpolluted fungi and substrate, F. fimetarioides significantly avoided the polluted source while I. minor did not. Both species were negatively affected by drought. I. minor was more tolerant than F. fimetarioides when exposed to drought in combination with metal pollution. High supply of preferred fungal species and a better ability to avoid heavy metals favour F. fimetarioides and determine its dominance over I. minor in polluted soils.