ECOPICS_Mx_Soil mesofauna from Pico de Orizaba Protected Park

  

Each plot has a unique name made of :

Altitudinal level : from 3400 to 4400 (every 200 m)

Plot Number : from 1 to 30

Species names: Tree, Pinus hartwegii; Shrub,Oxylobus arbutifolius/Chianolaena lavandulifolia and; herb, Lupinus monticola/Senecio roseus. 

In each plot, at two meters of influence of the target plant (tree, shrub and herb) with a nucleator (5 cm  diameter and 10 cm height), three samples of litter were collected (if present) at a depth dependent on the thickness of said layer. Once the sample of the mulch was taken, a sample of the first 20cm of the soil was collected with the  same nucleator, the samples were placed gently  in boxes independently (litter and soil) for transport to the laboratory. There we proceed to the extraction of the mesofauna with home made Berlese funnels. The number of organisms were extrapolated to one square meter.

Morphological identification of Collembola families was performed using the keys of Christiansen & Bellinger 1980-81 and Janssens, 2021 in Red de Biodiversidad y Sistemática, INECOL, A.C., Xalapa.

The other organisms their Morphological identification (taxa organism) was made using the Dindal's, (1990) key in Red de Ecología Funcional, INECOL, A.C., Xalapa.

Mesofauna survey sheet contains the raw data :

Mesofauna density: number of individuals (litter and soil) of each families of collembola and others taxa in each plot (density ind/m2)