Elsevier

Pedobiologia

Volume 48, Issue 2, 31 March 2004, Pages 165-170
Pedobiologia

Growth of the collembolan Folsomia candida Willem in soil supplemented with glucose

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2003.12.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Freely available glucose improves the conditions for soil microorganisms which are utilized as food by Collembola. We examined the effects of glucose application on collembolan (Folsomia candida Willem) growth and on several biotic and abiotic soil parameters (microbial biomass, soil respiration, qCO2, dissolved organic carbon, inorganic nitrogen, and Olson-P) in an artificial system without predatory pressure on Collembola. Glucose addition increased soil respiration and qCO2, and decreased nutrient levels in the soil. Collembolan growth increased with increasing glucose doses. We conclude that the availability of carbon substrates can sustain collembolan growth via an improvement of microbial growth conditions.

Introduction

Collembolan communities in soils are controlled by two plant-dependent bottom up factors. One is litter, slowly decomposable plant material, and the other is root exudates, readily decomposable substances secreted into the soil. The effects of litter on Collembola were investigated by manipulation experiments using litter bags (Takeda, 1987), and using artificial litter (Gill, 1969). These studies confirmed that litter served both as a habitat and food resource for Collembola. In contrast to litter, root exudation provides food resources without physically changing the habitat structure. Chen and Wise (1997), Chen and Wise (1999) scrutinized the effects of the three fast decomposable materials, sliced mushrooms, potatoes, and dry instant Drosophila medium, on Collembola without changing the habitat structure, demonstrating that Collembola were food limited. Carbon flow to the soil by root exudation is substantial: up to 10–25% of the total carbon fixed by photosynthesis and 30–40% of the photosynthates translocated to the roots might be secreted to the rhizosphere (Lavelle and Spain, 2001). A significant portion of soil microbial biomass depends on root exudates (Helal and Sauerbeck, 1986). Consequently, microbial biomass is concentrated in the vicinity of living roots (Newman, 1985). While it is known that root exudates significantly promote soil fauna activity (Parmelee et al., 1993; Garrett et al., 2001), their influence on Collembola is unclear.

Root exudates contain a large number of readily metabolized organic compounds which represent a high quality energy source for microbes. Adding glucose into the soil may simulate this nutritive effect of root exudation. While there are many reports of the effects of carbon supply on soil organisms (e.g., Coleman et al., 1978), only few studies concentrated on Collembola (Bååth et al., 1978; Wiggins et al., 1979; Maraun et al., 2001). Bååth et al. (1978) and Maraun et al. (2001) investigated the effects of carbon and nutrients on the soil microbiota and mesofauna including Collembola, and Wiggins et al., (1979) studied the role of the rhizosphere for Collembola. However, these studies do not allow unequivocal conclusions regarding the effects of carbon supply on collembolan species. Collembola utilizes algae, fungi, and nematodes as food sources (Hopkin, 1997; Gilmore, 1970), and the growth rate of one species, Folsomia candida Willem, has been shown to be high in bacterial dominated soil compared to fungal dominant soil (Kaneda and Kaneko, 2002). In the rhizosphere, the biomass of microflora and of nematodes is higher than in soil zones not directly related to roots. We predict that adding glucose to a root-free soil will positively affect collembolan species by simulating rhizosphere conditions, i.e., by enhancing microbial activity and biomass. To test our hypothesis, it will be necessary to study the effect of carbon provision on Collembola in an artificial system from which the predators of Collembola are excluded. In this study we investigated the effects of glucose on the collembolan model species F. candida in a simple soil system including microbiota but without other mesofauna.

Section snippets

Origin of test animal and soil

F. candida was isolated from the soil of the arboretum of Shimane University (ca. 33 m above sea level, 35°28′N and 133°5′E) using a Tullgren funnel. The Collembola were cultured in an incubator at 22.5°C in the dark and were fed with Baker's yeast. Soil material (Umbric Andosols according to FAO classification) was collected from a deciduous broad-leaved forest, dominated by about 35-year old Cornus controversa Hemsley and Zelkova serrata (Thune.) Makino on the campus of Yokohama National

Results

Initial soil pH, total carbon, and total nitrogen of the experimental soil were 5.69, 140.9, and 10 mg g−1, respectively. Biomass C followed the same trend in all treatments (Fig. 1); it showed day-to-day variation but generally increased over the course of the experiment. However, it increased in dependence of the dose of glucose application. Glucose at high concentrations caused an increase in DOC as compared to the low glucose treatment and the control, but at the end of the experimental

Discussion

Collembolan growth was enhanced by glucose application. Glucose, an energy source for microbes, caused DOC and microbial activity, soil respiration and qCO2 to rise, and decreased the microbial nutrient resources, NO3–N and Olson-P. Although DOC increased with added glucose, 90% of the carbon applied in the high glucose treatment was consumed within two days following glucose addition, as glucose is a rapidly decomposable substance (Ritz and Griffiths, 1987). In the previous studies,

Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Tamura, Ibaraki University, for identification of the Collembola. We acknowledge the helpful discussion of Ms. M. Yasuda, Yokohama National University, and the members of the Soil Ecology Research Group, Yokohama National University. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Basic Research from the Ministry of Education, Sport, Science and Culture of Japan (No. 80146810), and by a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture

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    Present address: Laboratory of Soil Management, Department of Upland Farming, National Agricultural Research Center for Tohoku region, Arai, Fukushima city, Fukushima 960-2156, Japan.I

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