Effects of Land Cover Changes on Soil Arthropod Community in Horqin Sand Land, China

Abstract

The composition and diversity of soil macroarthropod communities in six types of land cover were studied during 2008 and 2009 in Horqin Sand Land, Inner Mongolia, to understand effects of land cover changes on soil macro-arthropod. The results showed that species richness, diversity and population density of the soil arthropods were the highest in the natural grasslands, followed by the fixed sand-lands and the plantations. Although the richness, diversity and population density were lower in the dry and irrigated farmlands, they were significantly higher than those in the moving sand dunes. Anthicidae were numerically dominant in natural grasslands, fixed sand dunes, plantations and irrigated farmlands, while Tenebrionidae were most common in the dry farmlands. There were no significantly dominant species in the moving sand dunes. The proportion of herbivore and omnivores was higher in fixed sand dunes compared with moving sand dunes, and likewise, the proportions of predators and omnivores were higher in irrigated farmlands compared with dry farmlands. In addition, the proportion of predators and omnivores were lower in plantations compared with fixed sand dunes or natural grasslands. The abundance and diversity of soil arthropods was most closely correlated with soil temperature, soil organic matter and total P content. 