Differences in Soil Arthropod Communities along a High Altitude Gradient at Shergyla Mountain, Tibet, China.

This is the first time that the soil arthropod Community composition along a high-altitude gradient (3,837, 4,105, and 5,050 m a.s.l.) has been investigated in eastern Tibet, China. Five soil samples of 50 cm² were taken from each site and extracted for 7 days in Berlese/Tullgren funnels without heating. Acari was the dominant group of arthropods at all three elevations (79%, 53%, and 54,%, respectively, from the lower site to the upper site). Prostigmata and Oribatida were more abundant than Mesostigmata and Astigmata at all three elevations. Mesostigmata and Oribatida were most abundant at the upper elevation (about 8,300 and 29,000 individuals/m², respectively). Prostigmata and Astigmata were most abundant at the lower elevation (about 170,000 and 20,000 individuals/m², respectively). Collembola was most abundant at the middle elevation (about 68,000 individuals/m²). The insect taxa were most abundant at the lower elevation. Diptera larvae, Protura, and Homoptera were the most abundant taxa along the elevation gradient, while Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, and Protura occurred only at the lower elevation. A multivariate redundancy analysis (RDA) shows that 64% of the variance can be explained by altitude. A change in dominant mite taxa along the elevation gradient could be seen. From the lower to upper sites, the dominant taxa changed from Prostigmata to Prostigmata and Oribatida, and then to Oribatida. About 33 genera in 24 families of oribatid mites were found. The numbers of genera from the lower, middle, and upper elevation were 14, 20, and 19, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]