Entomobrya multifasciata . A
common, boldly marked Collembole found on the soil surface in a wide range
of habitats.
Isotoma riparia, new to the UK, found by myself in a PFA lagoon by West Thurrock power station, East London
|
Entomobrya multifasciata . A
common, boldly marked Collembole found on the soil surface in a wide range
of habitats.
|
Ecology of the Collembola (springtails) |
Isotoma riparia, new to the UK, found by myself in a PFA lagoon by West Thurrock power station, East London
|
These animals are wingless hexapods which have changed little since
the early colonisation of land over 400 million years BP. We know
this, becasue some obligingly became fossilised in moss by a silaceous
spring , laying down what are now the Rhynie cherts (of Scotland).
The Collembola found preserved this way could (almost) have hopped out
into one of my Tullgren extractors today. I carefully avoided calling
them insects, since despite their 6 legs and long-standing classification
as insects, these arthropods may well have evolved the hexapod state independently
of true insects. In particular they have a unique cephalic structure
(the post antennal organ) which may be the remains of the second antennae
of crustacea.
To study UK Collembola you MUST, still, study the resources on Steve Hopkin's page. Steve lectured at Reading university until his untimely death in a car crash in May 2006, and was previously invaluable in helping me name awkward (and common but mis-identified) specimens. I am in the process of transferring the maps to the university server where I can ensure that they are kept updated as records come in. This will not be a speedy operation, but a start has been made here.
Another useful resource is the world
springtail page run by Frans Janssens.
There is a
list of Collembola publications, initially created by Steve Hopkin
but now held by Jeff Battigeli of Earthworks.
Large, surface dwelling forms have a unique jumping organ called the furcula at the end of the abdomen, clearly visible on the Entomobrya above. This is an escape mechanism.
Species found deeper in the soil have little need for jumping or colours, and tend to be white without a furca. This can be seen in the Protaphorura procampatus below.
My PhD involved studying Collembola/fungal interactions in a pine forest in Northumberland. This was followed by studies of Collembola on lowland heaths in Surrey and Yorkshire, and the species colonising industrial waste sites.
Currently I have some more exotic field sites; Costa Rica and St Helena.
The Costa Rican samples are pitfalls put out by Dr Erica McAlister (who
did her PhD at Roehampton with Claire Ozanne and myself). Erica now
works in entomology
at the BMNH, where the head of collections Howard Mendel has entrusted
me with Collembola from St Helena. The Costa Rican species are largely
unfamiliar and very diverse. The St Helena Collembola are (so far
anyway) very few in species and very familiar. I'l show you the biggest
(easily making 2mm!) commonest and most distinctive; Orchesella cincta.
These are slightly paler than mainland O. cincta, but it is too early to
say whether this is of any significance.
Orchesella cincta from St Helena, c. 2mm |
Orchesella cincta from St Helena, c. 2mm note the black band on abd.3 'cincta' means 'belted' in latin ,referring to the black belt on abd 3. This is the only UK springtail that can be confidently named with the naked eye. |
Relevant Publications:
Shaw PJA, Ozanne CMP, Speight M & Palmer I (2007). Edge effects and arboreal
Collembola in coniferous plantations. Pedobiologia, 51, 287-293
Cole, L., Bradford, MA, Shaw PJA & Bardgett D (2006). The
abundance, richness and functional role of soil meso- and macrofauna
in temperate grassland – a
case study. Applied Soil Ecology 33, 186-198.
Shaw PJA (2003). Collembola of PFA lagoons in East London. European Journal of Soil Biology 39, 1-8
Shaw PJA & Buckhoree Z (2001). Collembola (springtails) of Brockham lime kilns, Box Hill. London Naturalist 80, 159-165.
Shaw, PJA (1997). Post-fire successions in Collembola on lowland heaths in the UK. Pedobiologia 41, 40-47.
Shaw, PJA & Usher, MB (1996). Edaphic Collembola of lodgepole pine Pinus contorta plantations in Cumbria, UK. European Journal of soil biology 32, 89-97.
Shaw, P.J.A. (1992). Fungi, fungivores and fungal food webs. In The Fungal Community, Vol. 2 (G.C. Carroll and D. Wicklow, Eds.), 295 - 310.
Shaw, P.J.A. (1988). A consistent hierarchy in the fungal feeding preferences of the Collembola Onychiurus armatus. Pedobiologia31, 179-187.
Shaw, P.J.A. (1985). Grazing preferences of Onychiurus armatus (Insecta: Collembola) for mycorrhizal and saprophytic fungi of pine plantations. In Ecological Interactions in the Soil (Special Publication of the British Ecological Society No. 4), (A.H. Fitter, D.J. Read & M.B. Usher, Eds.), 333-337.
back to Peter Shaw's work page
Last modified 12 September 2008