Abstract
We examined influences of trampling and wood-chip mulching on soil animal fauna in a Japanese beech forest with utilization as a sightseeing spot. Three study sites; a trampled area with wood-chip mulch, a trampled area with leaf litter, and a control area were settled in a beech forest. The hardness of soil and the soil fauna were compared among the three study areas on 7 September and 24 November in 2005. The hardness of the soil was significantly large in the order as the trampled area with wood-chip mulch, the trampled area with leaf litter and the control area. From the survey on soil fauna, Pseudoscopiones and Harpacticoida were not observed in both trampled areas on 7 September and 24 November in 2005. The number of families of oribatid mites and that of collembolan species were larger in the control area than those of trampled area. Diversity of collembolan species the soil was high in the order as the control area, the trampled area with leaf litter and the trampled area with wood-chip mulch.
