Abstract
A comparative field study was conducted to study the correlation between
forest vitality and the abundance of soil microarthropods. During
5 years the vitality of six pine forests within the Veluwe area,
the Netherlands, was estimated by the number of needle year-classes,
while soils were sampled and extracted for various soil microarthropod
groups. Within sites the number of needle year-classes in the forest
stands fluctuated over the 5 years, while the collembolan family
Sminthuridae showed a trend towards a decreasing population density
and the density of the cryptostigmatid mite Platynothrus peltifer
Koch increased. Among sites there was a significant positive correlation
between the number of needle year-classes and the relative abundance
of P. peltifer. The results imply that soil microarthropods may indicate
changes in physical and chemical factors in relation to soil fertility
and vitality of the trees.
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