A new Australian record of a Parajapidae (Diplura): A potential pest of wheat
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope , Luan, Yun-Xia
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Soil Research Vol. 56, no. 7 (2018), p. 657-663
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- Description: Parajapyx isabellae (Grassi, 1886) is recorded for the first time from Australia. It is a cosmopolitan soil species found in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Womersley last studied Australian Parajapygidae 80 years ago, listing a single endemic species for the genus Parajapyx Silvestri, 1903, sensu stricta. In 2017, an unidentified Parajapyx was found in deep soil under wheat in winter, spring and summer at Harden, New South Wales, in a long-term tillage trial. It was most abundant in the minimum tillage/stubble retained plots in soil below 5 cm but rarely observed in the conventionally tilled/stubble burned plots. The same field experiment was sampled five times using the same methods over 3 years from 1993-95 but no specimens of Diplura were collected. The specimens were identified as P. isabellae using morphology and confirmed with the DNA barcoding sequence data. Most species of Parajapygidae are carnivores feeding on small arthropods but there are records from North America, Europe and Hawaii of P. isabellae feeding on roots of wheat and other agricultural crops. We provide here illustrations of species P. isabellae so that crop scientists in Australia are aware of the potential pest and can identify it. Sequence data indicate that the population may have originated from two sources.
A new species of Friesea (Collembola: Neanuridae) from the Antarctic Continent
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Natural History Vol. 52, no. 33-34 (2018), p. 2197-2207
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- Description: A new species of Friesea was found in East Antarctica and is described here as Friesea eureka sp. nov. This is the first new collembolan species to be described from the Antarctic continent in 30 years, even though ice-free areas have been intensively surveyed over that time. It brings to five the number of described species of the genus Friesea known from the Antarctic continent and Peninsula, so is the most speciose genus of Collembola in the region. However, one of these, F. grisea Schäffer, comprises a number of cryptic species of different molecular lineages. The new species is distinguished by having 4 + 4 ocelli plus 1 + 1 hardly visible, a very reduced furca, up to four or five faintly clavate tenent hairs, four anal spines and four spinose chaetae in adult. The restricted distribution of the species emphasises the importance of protecting ice-free areas on the continent as they often contain at least one locally endemic faunal species.
An antarctic biogeographical anomaly resolved: the true identity of a widespread species of Collembola
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Polar Biology Vol. 41, no. 5 (2018), p. 969-981
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- Description: Springtails and mites are the most abundant and species rich micro arthropods in the Antarctic and species tend to be short-range endemics. It was thought that the Springtail (Collembola), Friesea grisea (Schäffer) was an exception. It was described briefly nearly 150 years ago from South Georgia and has not been redescribed from the type locality since. However, published localities include the South Shetland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula, Enderby Land, Marguerite Bay and South and North Victoria Land suggesting that it is unusually widespread. Recent sequence data have indicated that some Antarctic populations could be putative species but individuals were allegedly morphologically identical. No sequence data were available for South Georgian specimens. These results suggested that a new examination of the South Georgian species’ morphology was needed in order to resolve the anomalous biogeographic patterns. I here redescribe F. grisea from South Georgia and show that it has subtle morphological characters that distinguish it from Antarctic individuals allowing it to be unambiguously distinguished from all known Antarctic populations. Consequently, Friesea antarctica is taken out of synonymy with F. grisea. These results emphasise the endemism of Antarctic faunas and allows more targeted conservation planning, especially for short-range endemic species located in likely refugia during glacial periods. Descriptions of putative species from the Continental populations are currently in progress. A new Friesea species from South Georgia, F. fantaba, is also described here. The genus Friesea is now the most species-rich genus of terrestrial arthropods in both the Antarctic and subantarctic and includes twelve species.
Conspectus of Australian Brachystomellidae (Collembola) with description of new species of Rapoportella and redescription of Cassagnella anomala
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Journal of Entomology Vol. 115, no. 1 (2018), p. 117-126
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- Description: As part of a modern review of all Australian Collembola families, a key is provided to the nine genera of Brachystomellidae currently known from Australia, their morphology is compared, their distribution within and outside Australia is noted and the high diversity of genera in southern regions emphasised. Three Australian genera are endemic, five are also found in South America, South Africa and/or New Zealand and one has a cosmopolitan distribution. The distribution, ecology and habitat preferences of Australian genera are compared. Two genera, Cassagnella Najt & Massoud and Rapoportella Ellis & Bellinger, are newly diagnosed and additions to the description of C. anomala Womersley are given. Australian Cassagnella species appear restricted to southern, humid regions and C. anomala possesses some characters that indicate it is adapted to living in habitats that are periodically flooded. A new species, Rapoportella edwardi sp. n. is described in the rarer genus from drier eucalypt forests. The effect of agricultural practices on an introduced species of Brachystomella is noted and its indicator value emphasised. Possible threats to the endemic genera and species are noted.
Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: PLoS Biology Vol. 16, no. 3 (2018), p. 1-12
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- Description: Taxonomy is a scientific discipline that has provided the universal naming and classification system of biodiversity for centuries and continues effectively to accommodate new knowledge. A recent publication by Garnett and Christidis [1] expressed concerns regarding the difficulty that taxonomic changes represent for conservation efforts and proposed the establishment of a system to govern taxonomic changes. Their proposal to "restrict the freedom of taxonomic action" through governing subcommittees that would "review taxonomic papers for compliance" and their assertion that "the scientific community's failure to govern taxonomy threatens the effectiveness of global efforts to halt biodiversity loss, damages the credibility of science, and is expensive to society" are flawed in many respects. They also assert that the lack of governance of taxonomy damages conservation efforts, harms the credibility of science, and is costly to society. Despite its fairly recent release, Garnett and Christidis' proposition has already been rejected by a number of colleagues [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Herein, we contribute to the conversation between taxonomists and conservation biologists aiming to clarify some misunderstandings and issues in the proposition by Garnett and Christidis. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the Federation University Australia affiliate is provided in this record**
When the cure kills—CBD limits biodiversity research
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Science Vol. 360, no. 6396 (2018), p. 1405-1406
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- Description: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) commits its 196 nation parties to conserve biological diversity, use its components sustainably, and share fairly and equitably the benefits from the utilization of genetic resources. The last of these objectives was further codified in the Convention's Nagoya Protocol (NP), which came into effect in 2014. Although these aspirations are laudable, the NP and resulting national ambitions on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) of genetic resources have generated several national regulatory regimes fraught with unintended consequences (1). Anticipated benefits from the commercial use of genetic resources, especially those that might flow to local or indigenous communities because of regulated access to those resources, have largely been exaggerated and not yet realized. Instead, national regulations created in anticipation of commercial benefits, particularly in many countries that are rich in biodiversity, have curtailed biodiversity research by in-country scientists as well as international collaboration (1). This weakens the first and foremost objective of the CBD—conservation of biological diversity. We suggest ways that the Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the CBD may proactively engage scientists to create a regulatory environment conducive to advancing biodiversity science. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the Federation University Australia affiliate is provided in this record**
A revision of the genus Lepidobrya Womersley (Collembola: Entomobryidae) based on morphology and sequence data of the genotype
- Authors: Zhang, Feng , Greenslade, Penelope , Stevens, Mark
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Zootaxa Vol. 4221, no. 5 (2017), p. 523-536
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- Description: The genus Lepidobrya Womersley, previously placed in Willowsiini, is re-diagnosed based on a redescription of the type species L. mawsoni (Tillyard) and its DNA barcode. Specimens possess narrow, pointed scales on the dens, two inner teeth on unguis, a truncate unguiculus with an outer tooth, a bidentate mucro with a basal spine and ordinary tergal S-chaetae 2, 2 vertical bar 1, 2, 2, ?, 3, so belongs to the Entomobryinae. Its systematic position and relationships to other scaled Entomobryinae genera are discussed and comments are made on the distribution of the genus as well as on ecology.
Fauna of a granite cave: first data from Britannia Creek Cave (3GP10-48), Wesburn, Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Iannello, Silvana , Greenslade, Penelope , Palmer, Grant
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Helictite - Journal of Australasian Speleological Research Vol. 43, no. (2017), p. 1-13
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- Description: There are few studies in Australia on the fauna of granite caves. Britannia Creek Cave is a granite cave heavily used for recreation yet it has never been mapped nor has the cave fauna been documented. We present here the cave system showing eight ecological zones, A to H, which we mapped, each with different light and moisture characteristics. The faunal diversity and composition in each zone is reported using data recorded from three surveys conducted in April, August and October 2015. For all fauna observed, the zone in which it occurred was noted. Taxa were identified to species level or to genus or family where species was unknown. The composition of fauna assemblages was investigated using Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS). Three taxa, the Raphidophoridae (cave crickets), Keroplatidae (glowworms) and Araneae (spiders), were most abundant and occurred in all eight zones. Known cave dwellers, such as Arachnocampa (Campara) gippslandensis (glowworm) were observed in small isolated clusters in three zones, C, E and H. The highest number of taxa (7) were present in the transition zone B, followed by zone A (6) and a dark zone F (6). Fewest taxa (2) were present in transition zone D. Because there are few publications on the biology of granite caves in Australia, our data can contribute to determining future conservation and land management priorities, especially in regard to recreational use which we also recorded.
Montane Collembola at risk from climate change in Australia
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope , Slatyer, Rachel
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Journal of Soil Biology Vol. 80, no. (2017), p. 85-91
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- Description: Collembola are an important component of montane arthropod communities worldwide, where they are often the most abundant and active group. In Australia, montane ecosystems are predicted to contract with continued climate warming, yet little is known about the faunal composition of Collembola on mountains nor its level of endemism. We compared the composition of Collembola communities from five mountain summits along a latitudinal gradient in eastern Australia. Each mountain harboured a distinct Collembola community, with few shared species/morphospecies. Even at the genus and family level, however, mountains varied considerably in faunal composition. Although no latitudinal trends were detected, short range endemism of morphospecies was high. Year-to-year variation in community composition within sites was small compared to between-site variation, even when collections were made 10 years apart. These results suggest that montane Collembola taxa may be resilient, as far as short term variations in weather are concerned. However, there is no evidence as to whether longer-lasting warmer conditions would be tolerated. If not, large scale losses of locally endemic species but not genera, unless they are monobasic, are likely. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS
New Australian Paronellidae (Collembola) reveal anomalies in existing tribal diagnoses
- Authors: Zhang, Feng , Ma, Yitong , Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Invertebrate Systematics Vol. 31, no. 4 (2017), p. 375-393
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- Description: We describe here two new species, Zhuqinia jingwanae, gen. & sp. nov. and Paronellides praefectus, sp. nov., both from Mount Twynam, New South Wales, Australia. The systematic position of Zhuqinia, gen. nov. in relation to other paronellids is not clear because the new genus possesses pointed, heavily striated scales similar to species of Callyntrurini. However, unlike species in that tribe, it lacks dental scales. Instead, Zhuqinia, gen. nov. is more similar to the unscaled genus Paronellides (Cremastocephalini) in other characters (abundant tergal macrochaetae, 2, 2|1, 2, 2, ?, 3 tergal S-chaetae, moderately long mucro with two teeth, etc.) but body scales are absent in all species of Paronellides. Multilocus phylogeny shows Zhuqinia, gen. nov. clustering with Paronellides rather than Callyntrurini or other Cremastocephalini genera. This study provides new information on the relationships between paronellid taxa, and changes the current higher classification of the family, particularly that of the tribes Cremastocephalini and Callyntrurini. As the new genus is known only from two peaks in the Snowy Mountain range, our data emphasise the role of montane areas as refugia for short-range endemic taxa. © CSIRO 2017.
The fate of the non-native Collembolon, Hypogastrura viatica, at the southern extent of its introduced range in Antarctica
- Authors: Hughes, Kevin , Greenslade, Penelope , Convey, Peter
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Polar Biology Vol. 40, no. 10 (2017), p. 2127-2131
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- Description: Invasive species present a risk to Antarctic ecosystems by altering community structure and function. Reports of non-native invertebrates are increasing at Antarctic sites subject to tourism industry and national operator activity. Furthermore, dispersal of existing non-native species to other Antarctic sites may greatly expand their distributions and increase the spatial scale of potential impacts. Consequently, non-native species occurring near logistical hubs present an enhanced risk. The non-native Collembolon, Hypogastrura viatica, was introduced to Léonie Island, Ryder Bay, near the logistical hub of Rothera Research Station, Rothera Point, Adelaide Island, at some point before 1993, but no attempt had been made to assess the extent of its distribution in the local area. In this study, we surveyed the regularly frequented islands of Ryder Bay and Rothera Point to attempt to assess the continued presence and distribution of this species. Hypogastrura viatica was not identified amongst the 36,796 Collembola specimens extracted from 138 samples taken from the islands and Rothera Point. With no evidence of the continued presence of this non-native Collembolon in the local area, either H. viatica has become extinct or has such a restricted spatial distribution that our monitoring programme failed to detect it. In light of these results, existing local biosecurity measures will be maintained as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of further anthropogenic dispersal of this potentially invasive Collembolon as well as of any other species imported unintentionally in future. © 2017, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
A new species of Metacoelura (Collembola: Paronellidae) from Australia, and redescription of Metacoelura articulata
- Authors: Ma, Yitong , Zhao, Chun , Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Zootaxa Vol. 4105, no. 4 (2016), p. 381-388
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP0990309
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- Description: The genus Metacoelura Salmon, 1951 is unusual as it possesses some characters typical of the family Entomobryidae and others of the Paronellidae. Three species and subspecies have been described, all from Australasian tropical regions. Me-tacoelura articulata is redescribed and a new species, Metacoelura majeri sp. nov., is described based on material collec-ted in Australia. A key to species of the genus is provided. Copyright © 2016 Magnolia Press.
Arboreal springtails in Tasmanian rainforests
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: The Tasmanian Naturalist Vol. 138, no. (2016), p.
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Biases encountered in long-term monitoring studies of invertebrates and microflora : Australian examples of protocols, personnel, tools and site location
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope , Florentine, Singarayer , Hansen, Birgita , Gell, Peter
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Vol. 188, no. 8 (2016), p. 1-9
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- Description: Monitoring forms the basis for understanding ecological change. It relies on repeatability of methods to ensure detected changes accurately reflect the effect of environmental drivers. However, operator bias can influence the repeatability of field and laboratory work. We tested this for invertebrates and diatoms in three trials: (1) two operators swept invertebrates from heath vegetation, (2) four operators picked invertebrates from pyrethrum knockdown samples from tree trunk and (3) diatom identifications by eight operators in three laboratories. In each trial, operators were working simultaneously and their training in the field and laboratory was identical. No variation in catch efficiency was found between the two operators of differing experience using a random number of net sweeps to catch invertebrates when sequence, location and size of sweeps were random. Number of individuals and higher taxa collected by four operators from tree trunks varied significantly between operators and with their ‘experience ranking’. Diatom identifications made by eight operators were clustered together according to which of three laboratories they belonged. These three tests demonstrated significant potential bias of operators in both field and laboratory. This is the first documented case demonstrating the significant influence of observer bias on results from invertebrate field-based studies. Examples of two long-term trials are also given that illustrate further operator bias. Our results suggest that long-term ecological studies using invertebrates need to be rigorously audited to ensure that operator bias is accounted for during analysis and interpretation. Further, taxonomic harmonisation remains an important step in merging field and laboratory data collected by different operators. © 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Differences in composition and vertical distribution of Collembola from canopies of three Australian rainforests
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope , Sutrisno , Florentine, Singarayer
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Soil Organisms Vol. 88, no. 3 (2016), p. 175-192
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- Description: Invertebrates from three rainforest canopies (tropical TRF, subtropical STR and cool temperate CTR) were sampled by insecticidal knockdown in order to compare biodiversity of canopy faunas in Australia; lower and higher TRF and STR were sampled separately. Numerous Collembola were collected, mainly in the family Entomobryidae but relative family abundance of taxa differed between forest types. TRF was characterised by Dicyrtomidae, STR by Entomobryidae and CTR by Isotomidae and Neanuridae. Also morphospecies abundances differed between forest types. The high canopy of TRF was dominated by Lepidocyrtoides sp. 3 while the low canopy was dominated by Lepidocyrtoides sp. 6. SRF had a high proportion (80% of individuals) of a single species, the canopy specialist, Epimetrura rostrata, in both high and low canopies. In CTR, the dominant species was Entomobrya sp. cf. varia. Significant differences were found in either or both abundance and species composition of Collembola between trees within each rainforest. A significant difference was found in species abundances between lower and upper canopies in TRF and STR but not in species composition, also between canopies, pitfall samples and soil/leaf litter faunas. High levels of apparent rarity were found in all the three rainforests, being most marked on STR. Only four species occurred in all three types of rainforest indicating that beta diversity (i.e. species turnover between the three sites) was high. Our results are the first to compare faunal composition between three rainforest types and have implications for management of forests under a climate change scenario.
First record of a possible predatory collembolan species, Dicyrtoma fusca (Collembola: Dicyrtomidae), in New Zealand
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope , Boyer, Stéphane , Sheilds, Morgan , Wratten , Steve
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Austral Entomology Vol. 56, no. 3 (2016), p. 332-338
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- Description: Specimens of a previously unrecorded collembolan species were found in a field margin of a commercial dairyfarm near Christchurch, New Zealand. They were consistently observed apparently feeding on egg batches ofthe light brown apple moth Epiphyas postvittana, which were being used as bait to assess predation rate by poten-tial biocontrol agents. The collembolan specimens were identified as the European species Dicyrtoma fusca basedon published morphological descriptions of this species. DNA sequence data of the New Zealand specimens clus-tered with sequence data from GenBank of this species from Norway and England, confirming that D. fusca pop-ulations in New Zealand originated from Europe. A GenBank sequence had previously identified a collembolanspecies from Estonia as this species, but its position in the phylogeny indicates that it is a different species. Somemorphological variations observed in arrangement of macrochaetae on the head were shown by sequence data tobe intraspecific differences only.
Synonymy of Katianna coeruleocephala Handschin, 1920 (Collembola: Katiannidae) with Bourletiella viridescens (Bourletiellidae)
- Authors: Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Zootaxa Vol. 4066, no. 1 (2016), p. 78-80
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- Description: Katianna coeruleocephala was described by Handschin in 1920 from Poespo, Java. It was collected in December, 1896 by Dr. Zehntner with the collecting details given as rotten "Louv" (leaves?) from live orchard. Handschin (1920) labelled his figures of the species (p. 146) as Katianna coerulescephala but the first spelling of the species name (p. 145) has priority. Katianna coeruleocephala has never been recollected. The only mention of the species in the literature since 1920 has been by Suhardjono (1989) in a check list for Indonesia and Suhardjono (2012) who listed it as present on Java and provided the main characteristics of the genus Katianna Börner, 1923. She stated it was a "new" (translate as endemic?) species in Java with a preferred habitat in cold and damp litter but no comment was made on the taxonomic status of the Indonesian species. There has previously been some doubt over both the original generic and family designation given by Handschin in 1920 for the species by both Yoshii (pers. comm.) and Murphy (pers. comm.) who believed it was "likely to belong to the family Bourletiellidae". They did not examine the holotype but based their comments on Handschin's (1920) figure of the mucro which shows it having fairly broad and smooth inner and outer lamellae (Fig. 5). The genus Katianna always has one, the inner, lateral lamella, distinctly toothed. The holotype and single specimen from the Basle Museum of Natural History has been examined and the results are reported here. Copyright © 2016 Magnolia Press.
Western myall groves (Acacia papyrocarpa) determine the fine-scale distribution of soil Collembola in semi-arid South Australia
- Authors: Kwok, Alan , Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Austral Ecology Vol. 41, no. 6 (2016), p. 613-621
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Vegetation can exert a strong influence on the distribution and activity of biotic communities across a broad range of spatial scales, especially in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. At fine spatial scales, patches created by individual plants can support different faunal and floral communities even at locations distant from the plant. These differences can have profound effects on a range of ecosystem processes, including seed dispersal, nutrient cycling and resource distribution. In semi-arid Australia, areas surrounding groves of western myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) trees are largely devoid of vegetation, being referred to as ‘halos’. Here, we investigate the soil-dwelling Collembola in groves of western myall trees, the surrounding halos and nearby chenopod shrubland. We also investigated whether the abundance of Collembola was influenced by soil depth (0–5 cm layer vs. 6–10 cm layer) in groves. We found that collembolan density was approximately nine times lower and taxonomic richness half that in a halo compared with the grove and chenopod vegetation. Furthermore, analyses at finer taxonomic levels indicate that vegetation patches differed in species composition, with some species restricted to or preferring particular patches. In the grove, we found a higher abundance of Collembola in the 0–5 cm soil layer compared with the 6–10 layer. Our results indicate vegetation patches strongly influence collembolan abundance and species composition in bare patches around western myall. As patches created by vegetation are a common feature of semi-arid and arid regions, we suspect that these effects are widespread although seldom reported. Furthermore, as Collembola are involved in the decomposition process, Acacia papyrocarpa patches will be influencing nutrient cycling through their effects on the soil biota. Our results also emphasize that comprehensive fauna survey and management of woodland ecosystems need to consider fine-scale processes.
Western myall groves (Acacia papyrocarpa) determine the fine-scale distribution of soil Collembola in semi-arid South Australia
- Authors: Kwok, Alan , Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Austral Ecology Vol. 41, no. 6 (2016), p. 613-621
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Vegetation can exert a strong influence on the distribution and activity of biotic communities across a broad range of spatial scales, especially in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. At fine spatial scales, patches created by individual plants can support different faunal and floral communities even at locations distant from the plant. These differences can have profound effects on a range of ecosystem processes, including seed dispersal, nutrient cycling and resource distribution. In semi-arid Australia, areas surrounding groves of western myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) trees are largely devoid of vegetation, being referred to as ‘halos’. Here, we investigate the soil-dwelling Collembola in groves of western myall trees, the surrounding halos and nearby chenopod shrubland. We also investigated whether the abundance of Collembola was influenced by soil depth (0–5 cm layer vs. 6–10 cm layer) in groves. We found that collembolan density was approximately nine times lower and taxonomic richness half that in a halo compared with the grove and chenopod vegetation. Furthermore, analyses at finer taxonomic levels indicate that vegetation patches differed in species composition, with some species restricted to or preferring particular patches. In the grove, we found a higher abundance of Collembola in the 0–5 cm soil layer compared with the 6–10 layer. Our results indicate vegetation patches strongly influence collembolan abundance and species composition in bare patches around western myall. As patches created by vegetation are a common feature of semi-arid and arid regions, we suspect that these effects are widespread although seldom reported. Furthermore, as Collembola are involved in the decomposition process, Acacia papyrocarpa patches will be influencing nutrient cycling through their effects on the soil biota. Our results also emphasize that comprehensive fauna survey and management of woodland ecosystems need to consider fine-scale processes.
A note on scale morphology in Collembola
- Authors: Hawes, Timothy , Greenslade, Penelope
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Zootaxa Vol. 3925, no. 4 (2015), p. 594-596
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Many Collembola (e.g. Entomobryidae: Tomoceridae) are characterised by a ‘clothing’ (sensu Salmon 1941) of scales. These scales confer a metallic-silver colour, which, when the scales catch the light, renders an iridescence to the surface of these hexapods. The functional significance of these scales is incompletely understood, although there is some evidence that they contribute to predator evasion (Bauer & Pfeiffer 1991). Their presence or absence is a fundamental taxonomic character for many genera, while more specifically, their morphology has been widely used as a species-specific character since the first studies in Collembola systematics (Beck 1873; Salmon 1941). From an evolutionary perspective, scales represent a derivation of cuticular setae (André 1988) that has been adopted independently by different taxa. For example, a study by Zhang et al. (2014) has recently demonstrated the independent origin of scales at least five times in the family Entomobryidae. This note briefly draws attention to previously unrecognised complexity in scale presence and architecture in Collembola at the level of individual species. An informed recognition of this complexity is recommended for future taxonomy.