Diversity of invertebrate community in leaf litters of Kunming Arboretum, Yunnan Province of Southwest China

An investigation was conducted on the invertebrates in leaf litters under five tree species (Cinnamomum camphora, Sabina chinensis, Magnolia denudata, Pinus yunnanensis, and Acer palmatum cv. Atropuceum) in Kunming Arboretum from May 2010 to September 2011, aimed to understand the community structure and characteristics of the invertebrate assemblages in the leaf litters of the five tree species. A total of 25237 invertebrate individuals belonging to 15 families of 18 orders in 5 classes under 2 phyla were collected, among which, Acarina and Collembola were the dominant groups, while Thysanoptera, Pseudoscorpionidea, Hemiptera, and Dermaptera were the common groups. Shannon diversity index, Pielou evenness index, and Simpson dominance index were used to compare the diversity of the invertebrate assemblages. A similar species composition of the invertebrate assemblages was observed in the leaf litters of the five tree species, and the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the assemblages was small. In the leaf litters of the five tree species, a total of 375 adult fungus-feeding thrips were collected, belonging to 4 species, 3 genera, and 1 family, in which, Allothrips was the dominant fungus-feeding thrips group, and also, a newly recorded genus for Yunnan Province.