Effects of rhizospheres on the community composition of Collembola in a temperate forest

• Influence of living roots on the collembolan community was investigated.
• Leaf mass affected collembolan abundance and species-specific responses.
• Above-ground productivity could organise collembolan community via living roots.
• Species intimately associated with leaf mass were widespread dominant species.

Influence of living roots on the community composition of Collembola was investigated in a coniferous forest of Chamaecyparis obtusa. We conducted a buried pot experiment that constructed two different systems for carbon (C) availability. We used two types of pots with or without a C. obtusa seedling. The former pots were used to make a system with soil including living roots (i.e. a system based on root-derived and litter-derived C), while the latter was equivalent to soil system without living roots (i.e. a system based on litter-derived C). After 8 months, we harvested the pots and examined the collembolan community and environmental factors. The presence of living roots affected collembolan abundance and species-specific responses. These changes could be explained in terms of leaf biomass of the seedlings, indicating a possible linkage between above-ground productivity and collembolan community. Given the possibility that root-derived C is associated with aboveground plant mass, we speculate that collembolan community responds to root-derived C. The three dominant species, which are widespread in Japanese temperate forests, were more abundant in the presence of living roots. Moreover they were positively correlated with leaf biomass in the system with a seedling, again suggesting the fundamental importance of living roots for the organisation of the collembolan community.