Response of earthworms biomass and diversity to windthrow events and soil properties in Hyrcanian forests of Iran
2010
Kooch, Y., Tarbiat Modares University, Nour, Mazandaran (Iran) | Hosseini, S. M.
Uprooting is a major disturbance factor in most natural forests. Little work has been done concerning the effects of uprooting on soil properties and fauna. This paper focuses the effects of tree uprooting on some soil properties, earthworm biomass and species diversity in Sardabrood forests of Chalous in Hyrcanian forest, northern Iran. For this purpose, twenty seven single¬tree gap sites in mixed beech forests were selected at 700-1,300 m altitude range, seventeen sites dominated by beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and ten by hornbeam (Carpinus betuhts L.). Four microsites were distinguished at each site: mound top (mound), pit bottom (pit), gap in the canopy (gap) and closed canopy (canopy). Soil samples were taken at 10 cm depth from all microsites. Earthworms were collected by hand sorting, simultaneously with the soil sampling. Soil acidity, water content, total carbon, total nitrogen and carbon to nitrogen ratio were measured in the laboratory. The impact of uprooting disturbance on soil properties was found significant. The total earthworm number and biomass differed significantly among the mentioned sites and microsites. The number and biomass amount of earthworms showed decreasing trend from undisturbed (closed canopy) to disturbed sites (gap, pit and mound). This trend is mainly caused by number and biomass of endogeic ecological group of earthworms. No earthworms were found in mound microsites. Thus, the windthrow generally reduced the activity and abundance of the earthworms. Our results suggest that windthrow should be considered effectively influencing soil diversity in context of forest ecology. This is significant for evaluating forest management policies and practices with respect to impacts on soil and also for the use of soils as indicators of forest ecosystems.
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