<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper tested the hypothesis that the placement of trees in the floodplain ecosystem leads to multiscale spatial structuring and plays an important role in formation of the spatial patterns of the soil macrofauna. The research polygon was laid in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro. The litter macrofauna was manually collected from the soil samples. The distances of the sampling locations from the nearest individual of each tree species were applied to obtain a measure of the overstorey spatial structure. The pure effect of tree structured space on the soil animal community was presented by the broad-scale and meso-scale components. The soil animal community demonstrated patterns varying in tree structured space. The tree induced spatial heterogeneity was revealed to effect on the vertical stratification of the soil animal community. The complex nature of the soil animal community variability depending on the distance from trees was depended on the interaction of tree species in their effects on soil animals. The importance of the spatial structures that interact with soil, plants and tree factors in shaping soil macrofauna communities was shown.</p></abstract>

This paper tested the hypothesis that the placement of trees in the floodplain ecosystem leads to multiscale spatial structuring and plays an important role in formation of the spatial patterns of the soil macrofauna. The research polygon was laid in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro. The litter macrofauna was manually collected from the soil samples. The distances of the sampling locations from the nearest individual of each tree species were applied to obtain a measure of the overstorey spatial structure. The pure effect of tree structured space on the soil animal community was presented by the broad-scale and meso-scale components. The soil animal community demonstrated patterns varying in tree structured space. The tree induced spatial heterogeneity was revealed to effect on the vertical stratification of the soil animal community. The complex nature of the soil animal community variability depending on the distance from trees was depended on the interaction of tree species in their effects on soil animals. The importance of the spatial structures that interact with soil, plants and tree factors in shaping soil macrofauna communities was shown.

Tree canopy affects soil macrofauna spatial patterns on broad- and meso-scale levels in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro

Department of Zoology and Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Ecology

Folia Oecologica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

This paper tested the hypothesis that the placement of trees in the floodplain ecosystem leads to multiscale spatial structuring and plays an important role in...

Tree canopy affects soil macrofauna spatial patterns on broad- and meso-scale levels in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro

Published Online: Dec 21, 2019

Page range: 101 - 114

Received: Jun 09, 2019

Accepted: Sep 28, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2019-0013

Keywords
ecological groups, environmental factors, neutral diversity, soil macrofauna, spatial variation, tree canopy

© 2019 Oleksandr V. Zhukov et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Tree canopy affects soil macrofauna spatial patterns on broad- and meso-scale levels in an Eastern European poplar-willow forest in the floodplain of the River Dnipro

Published Online: Dec 21, 2019

Page range: 101 - 114

Received: Jun 09, 2019

Accepted: Sep 28, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2019-0013

Keywordsecological groups, environmental factors, neutral diversity, soil macrofauna, spatial variation, tree canopy

© 2019 Oleksandr V. Zhukov et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
ecological groups, environmental factors, neutral diversity, soil macrofauna, spatial variation, tree canopy