Soil fauna in Slovene forests - its characteristics, importance, threat and biodiversity in the Alpine region
2001
Kos, I. | Grgic, T. (Ljubljana Univ. (Slovenia). Biotechnical Fac., Biology Dept.)
Soil fauna in Slovene forests is numerous and extraordinarily rich in its number of species. Vital for this richness is the high primary production in structurally and functionally preserved deciduous and mixed forests of the temperate climates. Heterogeneity of communities of the individual animal groups is considerable because of the continuous adaptation of the species. Refuges of mesophilic species during the colder periods were namely in a close proximity of the present forests, with their important segments on the territory of today's Slovenia. In the Carinthian forests the important refuges existed also in the 19th century, when the forest was essentially smaller than today. With a renewed overgrowth, a new forest environment is developing, which is only now being overtaken by the soil fauna. Here, the mutual connection between soil fauna and pedogenetic processes, dispersion of forest species from a sustained forest, and the meaning of different succession stages on the soil animal community can be observed, and the importance of the sustainable forest segments for the species diversity can be evaluated. Soil fauna affects soil structure, decomposition processes, and through nutrition relations also other forest animal species as capercaillie, forest partridge, and others.
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