Abstract
An investigation was carried out to assess the relative importance of soil meso-fauna in three forest plots situated on a forest slope in ASHIU Experimental Forest of Kyoto University. Population density of Collembola, Cryptostigmata, Mesostigmata, and Prostigmata was estimated in the three plots. Vertical distributions of these aminal groups showed a similar pattern in the three plots and individuals were more numerous in the top soil of 4 cm in depth. The changes in population density along the slope and the vertical distirubiton suggest the importance of the amount of A0 layer in the determination of abundance of the meso-fauna. Community structure of Collembolan species was compared between the three plots in terms of the diversity, evenness, and species richness and the three communities showed a similar pattern in the structures. But size distribution of Collembola was different among the plots and biomass was higher in the bottom than in the ridge plot. There was an inverse relation between the biomass and population density and this was related to the habitat structure of the soil.
