Mean annual population density of Collembola and Acari in the soil and litter of three indigenous South Australian forests

A quantitative study of the soil and litter fauna of three South Australian low open forests was made for two years. The soil and vegetation of the sites were similar but the mean annual rainfall of the areas differed; 635, 690 and 1050 mm/y, respectively for the ‘dry’, ‘medium’ and ‘wet’ sites. Monthly samples were taken of litter, and the upper 0–4 cm and lower 4–8 cm soil layers, and the method used to estimate the numbers of active animals is also described. Mean annual population densities of Collembola and Acari were greatest at the medium site (9.5 and 48.6 × 10³/m², respectively) and least at the dry site (4.9 and 35.1 × 10³/m², respectively) and values are discussed in relation to site organic carbon content. Over all the sites, between 11–21, 67–75 and 10–15% of the collembolan populations, and 10–13, 66–72 and 16–21% of the acarine populations inhabited the litter layer and upper and lower soil layers respectively. Isotomidae were the most abundant collembolan family in each level at each site, but the overall proportion of Entomobryidae increased from the dry to wet site. Prostigmata were the most abundant acarine order in each level at two sites. Cryptostigmata were dominant in the litter layer of the wet site, and their overall proportion increased from the dry to wet site. Seasonal density changes were similar on all sites with minima in the summer and maxima in the winter months. The results obtained here combined with those from other published investigations indicate a trend of faunal population change over various ecosystems in Australia. Prostigmatid mites and iso-tomid Collembola dominate at arid sites. As sites become less arid and the amount of soil organic matter increases, the proportion of cryptostigmatid and mesostigmatid mites increases, and other groups of Collembola, particularly Entomobryidae, become more frequent.