Springtail community (Hexapoda,Collembola) in arable chernozems of Kursk oblast

The composition of springtail communities (the ratio of taxa, species richness, morphoecological spectrum, and spatial organization) in typical deep chernozems of Kursk oblast has been studied in crop fields, forest strips, and an old fallow. Approximately 40 springtail species have been recorded, with the Onychiuridae being dominant with respect to species diversity and contribution to the total abundance. Springtails are distributed over the soil profile to a depth of no less than 50 cm. The pattern of their vertical distribution in areas with tree and shrub vegetation differs from that in arable land. The response of springtails to weakly expressed sheet erosion of chernozem proved to be insufficient for using them as bioindicators of the initial stages of soil erosion.