Vertical distributions of soil fauna communities on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain

Gongga Mountain, the third highest mountain in China with an altitude up to 7556 m, is located in the middle of Hengduan Mountains. In this study, four vegetation types, including evergreen broadleaved forest (EBF, at an altitude of 1930 m), deciduous broadleaved forest (DBF, 2343 m), coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest (CBF, 2780 m) and dark coniferous forest (DCF, 3160 m), were selected along the altitude gradient on the eastern slope of Gongga Mountain. Soil fauna in these forests were investigated in spring (May), summer (July) and autumn (October) in 2012. In total, 347 individuals of soil fauna, belonging to 10 classes, 29 orders and 68 phyla, were collected. Pearson correlation analysis showed that soil temperature was significantly and positively correlated with the Shannon-Wiener index, richness, biomass and density of the soil fauna communities, and the same results were also founded to the biomass of herbivore and omnivore fauna.