Structure of Collembola Communities in the Urban Gradient of Rīga City

• DOI: 10.2478/prolas-2023-0037
• Publication Date: 2024-01-06T19:43:12Z
• Authors: Edīte Juceviča; Vendija Grīna; Viesturs Melecis
• Keywords: Dominance (genetics); Urban ecology; Urban forest; Soil Quality

Abstract The world’s increasing urbanisation and the deterioration of human quality life in major cities have redirected focus urban planning toward green infrastructure improvement and, as a result, increased research ecosystems. This article analyses changes structure Collembola communities soil urban-rural gradient city Rīga, Latvia. Soil samples were collected 21 randomly selected sample plots within six habitats: street edge grasslands, downtown parks, private houses, cemetery suburban forests. taken at end September/beginning October 2017. A steel corer (D 50 mm, surface area 19.6 cm 2 , depth 10 cm) was used. In each plot, three with corer. extracted from pooled habitat using Berlese-Tullgren extractor. Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) ordination data yielded statistically significant axes ( p < 0.01). first axis explaining 49% variation coincided gradient. Species richness declined towards centre, while Simpson’s Dominance Index increased. species Mesaphorura macrochaeta predominates central habitats, Parisotoma notabilis dominates