Abstract
The community patterns of Collembola (Hexapoda) were studied at two sites along a microclimatically inversed scree slope in a deep karst valley in the Western Carpathians, Slovakia, in warm and cold periods of the year, respectively. Significantly lower average temperatures in the scree profile were noted at the gorge bottom in both periods, meaning that the site in the lower part of the scree, near the bank of creek, was considerably colder and wetter compared to the warmer and drier site at upper part of the scree slope. Relatively high diversity of Collembola was observed at two fieldwork scree sites, where cold-adapted species, considered climatic relicts, showed considerable abundance. The gorge bottom, with a cold and wet microclimate and high carbon content even in the deeper MSS horizons, provided suitable environmental conditions for numerous psychrophilic and subterranean species. Ecological groups such as trogloxenes and subtroglophiles showed decreasing trends of abundance with depth, in contrast to eutroglophiles and a troglobiont showing an opposite distributional pattern at scree sites in both periods. Our study documented that in terms of soil and subterranean mesofauna, colluvial screes of deep karst gorges represent (1) a transition zone between the surface and the deep subterranean environment, and (2) important climate change refugia.
Highlights
A mesovoid shallow substratum—MSS [1,2]—represents an extensive underground ecosystem formed by a widespread network of air-filled voids and open spaces inside multiple layers of rock fragments [3,4]
Scree habitats with inversed microclimatic conditions are vulnerable environments, where global warming may lead to the loss of relict forms of invertebrates and to the reduction of biodiversity in these unique natural habitats
The objectives of the present study were: (1) to compare diversity, vertical distribution and community structure of Collembola at two sites on a microclimatically inversed scree slope in two different periods of the year, (2) to analyse the responses of ecological groups of Collembola regarding their affinities to subterranean habitats and to climatic conditions in the given periods, and (3) to assess the function of scree slopes in deep karst valleys as potential climate refugia for psychrophilic forms of soil and subterranean fauna
Summary
A mesovoid shallow substratum—MSS [1,2]—represents an extensive underground ecosystem formed by a widespread network of air-filled voids and open spaces inside multiple layers of rock fragments [3,4]. MSSs are characterized by perpetual darkness, low energy inputs and buffered microclimatic conditions. These habitats include rocky debris and screes of varying size ranging from low to high altitudes of the temperate zone, in both calcareous and non-calcareous rocks [3,5]. In Europe, some scree accumulations with perennially cold microclimates are commonly known as ice-bearing taluses or cold/freezing screes. This phenomenon has been documented on hills and mountain slopes [6,7,8,9]. Analogous conditions may be found in limestone deposits spread across low to middle altitude karst landforms, such as collapse dolines of ice caves or the cold bottoms of deep gorges and valleys that have historically experienced a periglacial climate and can serve as unique refugia for cryophylic (psychrophilic) invertebrates, especially in terms of the ongoing climate change [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17]
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