Zheng Xiaoxue, Tao Yan, Wang Zhongqiang, Ma Chen, He Hong, Yin Xiuqin
Key Laboratory of Geographical Processes and Ecological Security in Changbai Mountains, Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
PeerJ. 2020 Jul 14;8:e9532. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9532. eCollection 2020.
Varied environmental conditions in coastal-inland zones tend to influence soil faunal communities. However, few studies have focused on the responses of soil fauna to environmental variations along the coastal-inland gradient. In order to better understand the aforementioned responses, a total of 80 soil macro-faunal samples were collected at the five different distances from the coastline of China's Bohai Bay. The results revealed that the compositions, structural characteristics and diversity of the soil macro-fauna varied among the different habitats. With the increases in the distance from the sea, the individual density, richness and diversity levels of the soil macro-fauna all first increased and then decreased. The individual density, richness and diversity values were all at their maximum at 30 km from the sea. The Edge effect promoted unique and rare soil macro-faunal taxa. Formicidae, Curculionidae and Aphodiidae were found to be the edge taxa. Agelenidae, Liocranidae and Nematocera were considered to be indicator taxa of severe sea effects. Paradoxosomatidae was an indicator taxon of slight effects. Overall, the environmental variations along the coastal-inland gradient were found to have the potential to affect the soil macro-faunal communities, and the different taxa of the soil macro-fauna responded to those variations in different ways. This study further revealed the processes and mechanisms of the sea influencing the soil macro-faunal communities, which had been caused by the coastal-inland gradient. The results of this study also provided a theoretical basis for developing future biodiversity guidelines for coastal ecosystems.
沿海-内陆区域多样的环境条件往往会影响土壤动物群落。然而，很少有研究关注土壤动物对沿海-内陆梯度环境变化的响应。为了更好地理解上述响应，在中国渤海湾距海岸线五个不同距离处共采集了80个土壤大型动物样本。结果表明，不同栖息地的土壤大型动物的组成、结构特征和多样性存在差异。随着距海距离的增加，土壤大型动物的个体密度、丰富度和多样性水平均先增加后降低。个体密度、丰富度和多样性值在距海30公里处均达到最大值。边缘效应促进了独特和稀有的土壤大型动物类群。蚁科、象甲科和隐翅虫科被发现是边缘类群。漏斗蛛科、管巢蛛科和长角亚目被认为是受海洋严重影响的指示类群。异足螽科是轻度影响的指示类群。总体而言，发现沿海-内陆梯度的环境变化有可能影响土壤大型动物群落，并且土壤大型动物的不同类群以不同方式对这些变化做出响应。本研究进一步揭示了海洋通过沿海-内陆梯度影响土壤大型动物群落的过程和机制。本研究结果也为制定未来沿海生态系统生物多样性指南提供了理论依据。
