Changes of Soil Fauna During Forest Restoration in Subtropical China

Changes of soil fauna communities were studied by Tullgren dry funnel method in the grassland, pine, mixed Schima superba, Acacia mangium and mixed Acacia forests during four seasons of 2003-2004 at the Heshan Research Station. It suggested that there were significant effects of season, plantation and soil depth on soil fauna (P<0.01, three-way-ANOVA). Soil fauna were conspicuously abundant in autumn (P<0.05, DMRT), but conspicuously succinct in summer (P<0.05, DMRT). Soil fauna decreased significantly (P<0.05, DMRT) into deeper soil and most of them concentrated in 0-5 cm soil layer. The order of all plantations was mixed Acacia forest > Acacia mangium forest > mixed Schima superba forest, pine forest and grassland. Significant interaction can also be found between plantation and season, and plantation and soil depth respectively. Soil fauna varied mostly in different plantations in autumn when soil fauna developed to the highest level, and the differences of soil fauna were discovered largely among soil depths with better plantation. It was concluded that man-made reconstruction to ecological system was beneficial to forest restoration, and the differences among various plantations might be correlated closely to the amount and quality of the litter in the forests.