Soil invertebrates and their trophic activity in 40-year-old forest stands

Abstract

The paper addresses patterns of the soil fauna formation in 40-year-old coniferous and deciduous single species forest stands developed in identical climatic and edaphic conditions of the southern taiga of Central Siberia. It is found that the main distinctions in the structure, density, and biomass of soil invertebrates pertain to the forest floor formation. For the first time, the correlation between the trophic activity of the soil biota and the biomass and density of invertebrates has been identified using the bait-lamina test.