Response of soil micro- and mesofauna to diversity and quality of plant litter

The abundance and functional structure of soil micro- (nematodes) and mesofauna (collembolans and mites) in relation to species diversity and initial C:N ratio of plant litter were studied in a field mesocosm experiment. A total of five litter treatments were applied to generate an increasing diversity of plant species (one, three and 12 species) and/or differences in initial C:N ratio of the litter (low, intermediate and high ratio). Samples were taken 3, 6 and 24 months after the litter exposure. On each sampling date litter and underlying sand samples were taken. Our results showed that litter quality, but not litter diversity was the factor which affected the three animal groups under study. The effect of litter was dependent on the time of litter exposure. Nematode fauna colonized litter earlier than the two mesofaunal groups. Nematodes responded apparently to litter quality gradient at early stages of litter decomposition. Three months after the start of the experiment the highest density of nematodes was noticed in single species litter of Trifolium pratense. Bacterial-feeding nematodes dominated in all litter treatments; on the first sampling date their percent share in Trifolium litter reached even 99.9%. Opposite to nematodes at late stages of litter decomposition the two mesofaunal groups seemed to show some preferences for low quality litter of Festuca rubra. Collembolan and nematode diversity was affected in similar way by the litter quality; the lowest diversity of the animal communities was found in the litter of the lowest initial C:N ratio. Maturity index of nematode communities was found to be a good index to differentiate between litters of different quality. The abundance and community structure of the three animal groups in underlying sandy soil was not significantly influenced by experimental conditions.