Soil properties shape soil microarthropod abundance but jointly regulate diversity with climate and vegetation along altitudinal climate zones

Background and aims

Soil microarthropods play a crucial role in soil ecological processes and are easily influenced by environmental changes. However, the distribution patterns of soil microarthropod communities along climatic zones and the major drivers remain unclear.

Methods

The soil microarthropod communities were investigated on the eastern slope of Mount Gongga, including subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest (SEB, 1600 m), subtropical evergreen and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest (SEDB, 2000 m), warm temperate deciduous broad-leaved forest (WTDB, 2400 m), mid-temperate coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (MTC, 2800 m) and cold-temperate coniferous forest (CTC, 3200 m).

Results

The differences in the taxonomic composition of soil microarthropod communities between different altitudinal climate zones increased with the interval distance, with the dominant genera abundances (Hypogastrura and Folsomia) varying significantly. The community abundance exhibits an unimodal pattern along the altitudinal zones with maximum values occurring in the WTDB. Alpha diversity stabilizes from the SEB to MTC, but declines significantly in the CTC, while the beta diversity increases slightly from the SEB to WTDB and decreases in the MTC and CTC. The taxonomic composition and abundance of soil microarthropod communities are mainly determined by soil properties, e.g., pH, soil moisture and temperature, K content, while the alpha and beta diversity are mainly affected by the combined and independent effects of climate, vegetation types and soil properties, respectively.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that the climate, vegetation types and soil properties have specific effects on the spatial distributions of soil microarthropod communities along an altitudinal climate zone.

Graphical Abstract