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Invertebrates in the litter and soil at a range of altitudes on Gunung Silam, a small ultrabasic mountain in Sabah

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

R. J. G. Leakey  and
John Proctor
R. J. G. Leakey
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
John Proctor
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
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Abstract

The numbers and biomass of litter and soil invertebrate fauna were investigated in six plots at altitudes of 280 m, 330 m, 480 m, 610 m, 790 m and 870 m on Gunung Silam, Sabah, East Malaysia. There were relatively high numbers and biomass in the lower plots, where the Oligochaeta were a high proportion of the total invertebrate biomass. The biomass of other invertebrate groups was low in the soil. There was a marked effect of altitude, particularly for the Oligochaeta above 610 m. The low biomass of the Oligochaeta in the higher plots suggested that the importance of this group may be diminished at relatively low altitudes on small mountains. However, several other soil faunal groups showed no evidence of an altitudinal effect, and it is suggested that the stunted forests near the summits of small mountains such as Gunung Silam may have a different litter and soil fauna from forests of a similar physiognomy at high elevations on large mountains.

Keywords

altitudinal zonationBorneoSabahsoil invertebratesultrabasic soils
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , May 1987 , pp. 119 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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References

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