Abstract
Fragmented oak litter was incubated in the laboratory for 4 months with and without collembola. The effects of the animals upon fungal standing crop and leaching of inorganic nitrogen and cations was monitored over this period. The results showed that the fungal standing crop was higher in the presence of small numbers of animals than in litter lacking animals, yet at higher grazing intensities the fungal standing crop fell markedly. Significant increases in the leaching of ammonium, nitrate and calcium occurred as a consequence of animal grazing, but potassium and sodium losses from the litter were unaffected.
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