Invertebrate biodiversity in litter layers of natural forest and Eucalyptus plantation in eastern Guangdong, China
粤东地区速生桉树林与天然林枯枝落叶层无脊椎动物多样性比较

A comparative study was made on the community structure of invertebrates and the species diversity of thrips in the litter layers of natural forest and Eucalyptus urophylla plantation in eastern Guangdong of China. The results showed that in natural forest, Acarina, Collembola, Dipteran larvae, Hymenoptera, Thysanoptera, and Coleoptera were the most abundant invertebrates, accounting for 96.5% of the total individuals collected; while in Eucalyptus plantation, Acarina, Collembola, Dipteran larvae, and Lepidopteran larvae were the dominant invertebrate groups, which accounted for 96.3% of the total. The diversity of invertebrate assemblages was much higher in natural forest than in Eucalyptus plantation, based on the comparsions of Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H'), Pielou eveness index (J), Density-group index (DG), and Simpson dominance index (D). The individuals and species of fungus-feeding thrips were also more abundant in natural forest than in Eucalyptus plantation. However, there was no significant difference in the average density of invertebrates between natural forest and Eucalyptus plantation, because the individuals of Acarina were predominant, constituting 77.6% of the total. All of the results suggested that it is important to remain the understory and litter to improve the litter invertebrate diversity in fast-growing Eucalyptus plantation.