Abstract
Flooding frequency is predicted to increase during the next decades in Europe. Therefore, it is important to understand how short-term disturbance events affect soil biota providing essential ecosystem functions and uncover factors modulating their response such as plant community composition. Here we report on the response of soil microarthropod communities (Collembola and Acari) to a severe summer flood in 2013, which affected major parts of central Europe. Collembola and Acari density and Collembola and Oribatida richness were strongly affected by the flood, but they recovered within three months. Effects of plant community composition on soil microarthropods disappeared after the flood, presumably due to homogenization of the field, but the effects of plant community were in a stage of being reasserted three months after the flood. Widespread, surface living and generalistic microarthropod species recolonized the field quickly. Prostigmata and Oribatida were more resilient or recovered to flooding than Astigmata and Gamasida. Long-term impacts, however, remain unknown and deserve further investigation.
Highlights
The increasing likelihood of extreme climate events with ongoing climate change is expected to have major impacts on biodiversity at local scales [1]
In 2010 Collembola species richness increased marginally significant with plant species richness (F1,76 = 3.76; Fig 2A) and plant functional group richness (F1,76 = 2.82; Table 2)
There was no significant effect of plant species and plant functional group richness on Collembola species richness three months after the flood in 2013, but increased significantly with the presence of tall herbs (Table 2)
Summary
The increasing likelihood of extreme climate events with ongoing climate change is expected to have major impacts on biodiversity at local scales [1]. Extreme climate events will primarily consist of periods of heat, cold, drought and flooding with greater severity and less predictability than historical norms [2]. These events will act as disturbance and are likely to decrease biodiversity at local as well as regional scales. Anaerobic conditions develop quickly in flooded soils [5] resulting in marked changes in soil chemistry [6] including the accumulation of toxic substances [4] All these changes are likely to significantly affect the composition of soil food webs. To explore the effects of flooding on soil food webs and, more
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