Global data on earthworm abundance, biomass, diversity and corresponding environmental properties.

Earthworms are an important soil taxon as ecosystem engineers, providing a variety of crucial ecosystem functions and services. Little is known about their diversity and distribution at large spatial scales, despite the availability of considerable amounts of local-scale data. Earthworm diversity data, obtained from the primary literature or provided directly by authors, were collated with information on site locations, including coordinates, habitat cover, and soil properties.

Global distribution of earthworm diversity.

Soil organisms, including earthworms, are a key component of terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about their diversity, their distribution, and the threats affecting them. We compiled a global dataset of sampled earthworm communities from 6928 sites in 57 countries as a basis for predicting patterns in earthworm diversity, abundance, and biomass.

A new species of Arctoseius Thor, 1930 (Acari: Ascidae) from taiga regions of the Palaearctic, with a key to Arctoseius species of Fennoscandia, NW Europe.

A new mesostigmatid mite species belonging to the genus Arctoseius Thor, 1930, is described based on material from subarctic coniferous forests, Finland, and Altai highlands, Russia. Arctoseius ambiguus sp. nov.

Influence of soil fauna and habitat patchiness on plant (Betula pendula) growth and carbon dynamics in a microcosm experiment.

We tested (1) how the presence of a diverse soil faunal community affects ecosystem carbon balance and (2) whether habitat patchiness modifies the influence of soil fauna on plant growth and carbon dynamics. We constructed cylindrical microcosms that contained coniferous forest humus and different litter materials either mixed or in separate patches, and in the presence or absence of diverse soil mesofauna. A birch seedling was planted in the centre of each microcosm.

Habitat patchiness affects decomposition and faunal diversity: a microcosm experiment on forest floor.

Environmental heterogeneity has been intensively studied, but little is known about relationships between habitat patchiness and soil processes. The aim of this study was to investigate (1) the impact of patchiness of the litter layer on the decomposer community and litter decomposition rate, and (2) whether the impact of soil fauna on the rates of processes differs in relation to patchiness. An experiment was carried out in microcosms with coniferous forest humus and four kinds of litter with different C:N ratios or stages of decomposition, either separately (i.

Evaluation of different similarity indices as measures of succession in arthropod communities of the forest floor after clear-cutting.

Communities of spiders (Araneae) and beetles (Coleoptera) living in the soil and litter of clear-cut areas were compared with those of intact forest stands. Sixteen different indices of similarity were tested on three sets of material: spiders and beetles examined during one year in three clear-cut areas felled 3, 6 and 9 years earlier, and spiders in one clear-cut area examined during 7 successive years after felling. Other sources of evidence showed that succession in the spider community was divergent for at least 7 years after felling.