DIVERSITY OF SOIL ARTHROPODS IN CANADA: SYSTEMATIC AND ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Data on diversity are fundamental to our understanding of both natural and disturbed ecosystems. Yet, despite their real and potential importance, knowledge of the diversity of non-pterygote soil arthropods in Canada still is very incomplete. This is illustrated with information on diversity from nine non-pterygote arthropod taxa: Tardigrada, Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Symphyla, Pauropoda, Protura, Collembola, Pseudoscorpionida, and Oribatida, and faunal lists are given for six of these taxa. Although valuable family and generic keys have been published recently, few monographic works or user-friendly keys to species are available. Autecological information essential to explaining the functional role of soil arthropods remains inadequate. Fortunately, the needs of other disciplines and issues are causing a change. For example, current ecological research recognizes that the roles of soil arthropods in decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil formation are more complex than previously supposed, palaeoecologists require new or corroborating data to interpret their fossil assemblages, and issues such as agroecosystem management, environmental indicators, and global change require a more thorough knowledge of soil communities. Researchers in these areas face poor data on diversity based on inadequate systematics, which limit their understanding of the composition and organisation of soil arthropod communities. This inadequacy presents both a challenge and an opportunity to soil arthropod systematists and ecologists.