PROBLEMS OF QUANTIFICATION AND ACCOUNTING FAUNAL DIVERSITY OF EARTHWORMS IN FOREST COMMUNITIES

The problem of quantifying earthworms is that the size of most part of the soil population is calculated per unit volume and the number of earthworms per unit area. This makes incomparable the results both of quantitative indicators of earthworm population in different soils and the number of worms and other soil invertebrates. This article presents a new approach to the faunistic and quantitative account of earthworms in forest communities. The significance of dead wood in the study of earthworm population is shown in the article. The article also presents the technique of quantitative evaluation of Lumbricidae that live in the soil and in the dead wood per unit volume – 1 m3. Examples of the number of earthworms per unit volume – 1 dm3, provided the actual habitat of earthworms is only in the upper 10-cm layer of soil or per unit volume 100 dm3 – in the case of a low number of earthworms, are considered in the article. In the dark coniferous forests of the Pechora-Ilych and Teberdinsky reserves the most favorable habitats of Lumbricidae were identified, communities with their highest species richness and abundance were identified

INTERRELATION OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE GROUND COVER, LITTER AND SOILS IN THE CONIFEROUS-BROAD-LEAVED FORESTS OF THE LOW-MOUNTAIN OF THE MIDDLE URALS

A fir-spruce-linden herbs forest and fir-spruce tall herbs forest on brown mountain soil in the Visimsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve were studied. In each type of forest, the biodiversity and variability of the chemical composition of ground cover and litter plants in different seasons were studied, and the relationship between the chemical composition of plants and the chemical composition of soils was assessed. Found that in spring the content of Fe, Cr, Rb, Ti, Zn, Ni, Al, S and P in the ground cover is higher, and by the end of the growing season the content of Mn, Sr, Ca, K, Mg and Cl increases. Ground cover plants of the studied forests contribute to the accumulation of Fe, Al, Mg, Ba, Ti, Mn, Ni, Cr and Zn in the soil due to their concentration in roots. In the chemical composition of the litter of the fir-spruce-linden herbs forest, the content of Ca, S, Sr, Ba, Mg, Fe, Ba, and Ti is higher than that of the fir-spruce tall herbs forest, which is reflected in the increase in the content of these elements in the organic horizon of the studied soils