New records of Lumbricidae and Collembola in anthropogenic soils of East European tundra

Abstract

The terrestrial environment of the East European tundra consists of a mosaic of habitat types. In addition to the natural habitat diversity, various human-influenced types may occur. In the town of Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia the manure-enriched soils near hydrogen sulfide springs were observed. This site represents an unusually nutrient-rich location with considerable development of organic soils, in contrast to the naturally forming soils in East European tundra which are typically thin and nutrient poor. In these organic soils, two species of Lumbricidae and two species of Collembola previously not recorded from the natural ecosystems in the study area of research territory were found. One earthworm species, Dendrodrilus rubidus tenuis, is likely to have been introduced. The presence of the three other species (Eiseniella tetraedra, Folsomia fimetaria, and Proisotoma minuta) is quite natural in East European tundra and such anthropogenic soils with high organic content may be a good habitat for them.