Enchytraeid assemblages at the foot of a talus slope in Skansbukta on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen

Authors

  • Jiří Schlaghamersky Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czechia
  • Miloslav Devetter Institute of Soil Biology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czechia; Centre for Polar Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Na Zlaté stoce 3, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czechia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25674/so91iss3pp97

Keywords:

Soil Animals, Svalbard, Isfjorden, Enchytraeidae, Marionina mimula

Abstract

Enchytraeids are an important component of Arctic ecosystems both as decomposers and part of the foodchain. Compared to other regions of the High Arctic, the enchytraeid fauna of Spitsbergen and some other islands of the Svalbard archipelago have been explored rather well but we still lack information from many areas and specific habitats. In August 2018, potworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae) were sampled on the lower portion of a talus slope and in the flat area between this slope and the beach of Skansbukta, a bay of the Isfjord(en) on the western coast of Spitsbergen. Objectives were to compare assemblage composition and densities of close-by sites differing in their environmental characteristics, to provide faunistic data for a little explored area within Spitsbergen, and to clarify the true identity of Marionina argentea s.l., which had been found here previously. Six taxa on species level were recorded, including a Mesenchytraeus species of uncertain identity. Using morphological and molecular characters, Marionina argentea s.l. was shown to be M. mimula, a species described rather recently from Ireland and Sweden and hitherto not known from the Svalbard archipelago. This species dominated the moist flat area, substantially contributing to the higher enchytraeid density of ca 10 000 individuals/m2 compared to less than 3 000 ind./m2 on the lower slope. In the flat area ca 70 % of enchytraeids were present in the uppermost 3 cm layer consisting of mainly live mosses, whereas on the lower slope the distribution of individuals between the 0–3 and 3−6 cm layers was very balanced but no individuals occurred in greater depth, though there was no apparent change in the character of the moss-derived organic soil with depth.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ávila-Jiménez, M. L., T. Solhøy, D. J. Gwiazdowicz, A. Fjellberg, K. Dózsa‑Farkas, F. Monson, W. H. De Smet, E. Stur, T. Ekrem & S. J. Coulson (2019): The terrestrial invertebrate fauna of Edgeøya, Svalbard: Arctic landscape community composition reflects biogeography patterns. – Polar Biology [https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02471-x].

Bauer, R. (2002a): Comparison of the enchytraeid communities (Oligochaeta) in an Arctic and sub alpine area. In: Christensen, B. & V. Standen (eds): Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Enchytraeidae, Mols Laboratory, Denmark, 2–4 June 2000 (Newsletter on Enchytraeidae No. 7). − Natura Jutlandica, Occasional Papers 2: 25–31.

Bauer, R. (2002b): Survival of frost and drought conditions in the soil by enchytraeids (Annelida; Oligochaeta) in Arctic, subalpine and temperate areas. – European Journal of Soil Biology 38: 251−254.

Birkemoe, T. (1995): Population dynamics of Enchytraeidae at the Arctic tundra of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. – Newsletter on Enchytraeidae, No. 4: 45−52.

Birkemoe, T. & K. Dózsa-Farkas (1994): New records of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) from Spitsbergen, Svalbard. – Fauna Norvegica Series A 15: 35–44.

Birkemoe, T., S. J. Coulson & L. Sømme (2000): Life cycles and population dynamics of enchytraeids (Oligochaeta) from the High Arctic. – Canadian Journal of Zoology 78: 2079–2086.

Byzova, J. B., A. V. Uvarov & A. D. Petrova (1995): Seasonal changes in communities of soil invertebrates in tundra ecosystems of Hornsund, Spitsbergen. – Polish Polar Research 16 (3–4): 245–266.

Christensen, B. & K. Dózsa-Farkas (1999): The enchytraeid fauna of the Palearctic tundra (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae). – Biologiske Skrifter 52: 3–37.

Christensen, B. & K. Dózsa-Farkas (2006): Invasion of terrestrial enchytraeids into two postglacial tundras: North-eastern Greenland and the Arctic Archipelago of Canada (Enchytraeidae, Oligochaeta). – Polar Biology 29: 454–466.

Coulson, S. J. & D. Refseth (2004): Chapter 3. The terrestrial and freshwater invertebrate fauna of Svalbard (and Jan Mayen). In: Prestrud, P., H. Strøm & H. V. Goldman (eds): A catalogue of the terrestrial and marine animals of Svalbard. – Skrifter 201. Norwegian Polar Institute, Polar Environmental Centre, Tromsø: 57–122.

Coulson, S. J., A. Fjellberg, D. J. Gwiazdowicz, N. V. Lebedeva, E. N. Melekhina, T. Solhøy, C. Erséus, K. Maraldo, L. Miko, H. Schatz, R. M. Schmelz, G. Søli & E. Stur (2013a): Introduction of invertebrates into the High Arctic via imported soils: the case of Barentsburg in the Svalbard. – Biological Invasions 15: 1–15.

Coulson, S. J., A. Fjellberg, D. J. Gwiazdowicz, N. V. Lebedeva, E. N. Melekhina, T. Solhøy, C. Erséus, K. Maraldo, L. Miko, H. Schatz, R. M. Schmelz, G. Søli & E. Stur (2013b): The invertebrate fauna of anthropogenic soils in the High-Arctic settlement of Barentsburg, Svalbard. – Polar Research 32: 19273 [http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v32i0.19273].

Dózsa-Farkas, K. (1999): Taxonomical problems in enchytraeids (Oligochaeta) from Spitsbergen. In Schmelz, R. M. & K. Sühlo (eds): Newsletter on Enchytraeidae No. 6. Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Enchytraeidae, Osnabrück, Germany. – Universitätsverlag Rasch, Osnabrück: 21–30.

Graefe, U. (1984): Eine einfache Methode der Extraktion der Enchytraeiden aus Bodenproben. – In Köhler, H. & L. Beck (eds): Protokoll des Workshops zu Methoden der Mesofaunaerfassung und zu PCP-Wirkungen auf Collembolen und andere Mesofauna-Gruppen, Bremen: 17.

ISO (2007): International Standard ISO 23611-3 Soil quality – Sampling of soil invertebrates – Part 3: Sampling and soil extraction of enchytraeids. – ISO copyright office, Geneva: 12 pp.

Martin, P., R. M. Schmelz & M.-J. Dole-Olivier (2015): Groundwater oligochaetes (Annelida, Clitellata) from the Mercantour National Park (France), with the descriptions of one new genus and two new stygobiont species. In Daugeron C., L. Deharveng, M. Isaia, C. Villemant, M. Judson (eds): Mercantour/Alpi Marittime All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. – Zoosystema 37 (4): 551-569.

Nurminen, M. (1965): Enchytraeid and Lumbricid records (Oligochaeta) from Spitsbergen. – Annales Zoologici Fennici 2 (1): 1−10.

Nurminen, M. (1966): Further notes on Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) of Spitsbergen. – Annales Zoologici Fennici 3: 68–69.

Nurminen, M. (1970): Records of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) from the west coast of Greenland. – Annales Zoologici Fennici 7: 199–209.

Nurminen, M. (1977): Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) from the Grossglockner region of the Austrian Alps. – Annales Zoologici Fennici 14: 224–227.

O’Connor, F. B. (1962): The extraction of Enchytraeidae from soil. – In Murphy, P. W. (ed.): Progress in Soil Zoology, – Butterworths, London: 279–285.

Rota, E. (2013): How many lookalikes has Marionina argentea (Michaelsen, 1889) (Annelida: Clitellata: Enchytraeidae)? Three new species described from morphological evidence. – Zoologischer Anzeiger 252: 23–137.

Rota, E. (2015): Five new species of Enchytraeidae (Annelida: Clitellata) from Mediterranean woodlands of Italy and reaffirmed validity of Achaeta etrusca, Fridericia bulbosa and F. miraflores. – Journal of Natural History 49(33):1–34.

Rota, E., B. Healy & C. Erséus (1998): Biogeography and taxonomy of terrestrial Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta) in northern Sweden, with comparative remarks on the genus Henlea. – Zoologischer Anzeiger 237: 155–169.

Schmelz, R. M. (2003): Taxonomy of Fridericia (Oligochaeta, Enchytraeidae). Revision of species with morphological and biochemical methods. – Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (Neue Folge) 38: 415 pp. + 73 Figs.

Schmelz, R. M. & R. Collado (2010): A guide to European terrestrial and freshwater species of Enchytraeidae (Oligochaeta). – Soil Organism 82: 1–176.

Sessford, E. & A. Hormes (2013): Quaternary geological and geomorphological maps of Fredheim and Skansbukta. Report Series No. 142. – Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø: 25 pp.

Sømme, L. & T. Birkemoe (1997): Cold tolerance and dehydration in Enchytraeidae from Svalbard. – Journal of Comparative Physiology B 167: 264–269.

Stephenson, J. (1922): The Oligochaeta of the Oxford University Spitsbergen Expedition (Results of the Oxford University Expedition to Spitsbergen No. 20). – Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 74: 1109−1138.

Stephenson, J. (1924): On some Oligochaete worms from Spitsbergen. Results of the Merton College Expedition to Spitsbergen, 1923, No. 3. – Annals and Magazine of Natural History 13 (74): 210−216.

Stephenson, J. (1925): The Oligochaeta of Spitsbergen and Bear Island: Some additions and a summary. – Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 1293−1322.

Waldrop, M. P., J. W. Harden, M. R. Turetsky, D. G. Petersen, A. D. McGuire, M. J. I. Briones, A. C. Churchill, D. H. Doctor & L.E. Pruett (2012): Bacterial and enchytraeid abundance accelerate soil carbon turnover along a lowland vegetation gradient in interior Alaska. – Soil Biology and Biochemistry 50: 188–198.

Downloads

Published

2019-12-01

Issue

Section

ARTICLES

How to Cite

Schlaghamersky, J. ., & Devetter, M. . (2019). Enchytraeid assemblages at the foot of a talus slope in Skansbukta on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen. Soil Organisms, 91(3), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.25674/so91iss3pp97