The influence of land reclamation and afforestation on soil arthropods in Iceland

The paper reports the effects of land reclamation and afforestation on soil arthropods in Iceland. Density and group composition of soil arthropods in eroded areas and areas revegetated with birch, lupin and grass species were studied. Results showed that reclamation changed soil animal group compos...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Edda Sigurdís Oddsdóttir 1971-, Kristín Svavarsdóttir 1959-, Guðmundur Halldórsson 1952-
Other Authors: Landbúnaðarháskóli Íslands
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1946/20026
Description
Summary:The paper reports the effects of land reclamation and afforestation on soil arthropods in Iceland. Density and group composition of soil arthropods in eroded areas and areas revegetated with birch, lupin and grass species were studied. Results showed that reclamation changed soil animal group composition and significantly increased the density of soil arthropods, regardless of the method used. Soil arthropod density was significantly higher in birch and lupin reclamations than in grass reclamation. Furthermore, soil arthropod community composition differed by reclamation methods; mites were dominant in birch while springtails were dominant in lupin plots. Neither group was dominant in grass plots. Soil arthropod density was found to be positively correlated with vascular plant species cover, the percentage of organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, but negatively correlated with pH. The importance of soil arthropod restoration in reclamation and natural succession of eroded areas in Iceland is discussed. Í þessari grein er skýrt frá niðurstöðum rannsókna á áhrifum skógræktar og landgræðslu á jarðvegsdýr. Borinn var saman þéttleiki og hópasamsetning jarðvegsdýra á óuppgræddum svæðum og á svæðum sem höfðu verið grædd upp með birki, lúpínu eða grastegundum. Rannsóknin leiddi í ljós að uppgræðsla breytti hópasamsetningu jarðvegsdýra og þéttleiki þeirra á uppblásnum svæðum var marktækt minni en á uppgræddum svæðum, sama hvaða aðgerð var notuð, enda frumframleiðni meiri á uppgræddum svæðum. Þéttleiki jarðvegsdýra var mismikill eftir aðgerðum og var marktækt hærri í uppgræðslum með birki og lúpínu heldur en í grasuppgræðslu. Uppgræðsluaðgerðir höfðu jafnframt áhrif á hópasamsetningu jarðvegsdýra, mítlar voru ríkjandi í birkiuppgræðslu en mordýr í lúpínu. Í grasuppgræðslu var ekki munur á mítlum og mordýrum. Marktæk jákvæð fylgni var milli þéttleika jarðvegsdýra og þekju háplnatna, hlutfalls lífræns kolefnis, niturs, fosfórs og kalíums en neikvæð fylgni milli þéttleika og sýrustigs. Ályktað er að ...