Soil Fauna of the Polar Desert at Cape Cheluskin, Taimyr Peninsula, USSR

Abstract

Cape Cheluskin on the North of the Taimyr Peninsula represents the northernmost mainland of the Earth. It belongs to the Polar desert zone, which also occupies the islands of the Arctic Ocean. The first studies on the soil fauna communities were carried out there in the summer of 1974. Polar desert habitats with different types of moss-lichen cover were compared. Small mesophilous forms were found to be characteristic of the soil animal population, Enchytraeidae, Collembola, Chironomidae larvae and Nematoda predominating. Absence of some groups of invertebrates, which are widely distributed in tundra (earthworms, Tipulids, Oribatid mites, beetles) was recorded. Population density of invertebrates in moss-lichen communities was relatively high and their biomass averaged 6-8 g m-2 and in some plots up to 20 g m-2. Invertebrates hardly occurred in the bare ground, where lichens and algae only were found. The biomass in such habitats reached over 1 g m-2. Trophic relations of soil organisms and patterns of the formation of animal communities in soils of the Polar desert are discussed.