Collembola Orleans

Three sites were compared, all located in the State Forest of Orléans (massif d'Ingrannes, commune Vitry-aux-Loges, Loiret, France): a 35-yr pine plantation (47° 56' 57" N, 2° 14' 08" E, alt. 127 m), a mixed pine-oak forest of varying age (47° 56' 58"N, 2° 14' 15" E, alt. 128 m) and a pure 35-yr oak stand (47° 56' 34" N, 2° 14' 07" E, alt. 129 m). Vegetation and soils have been described in Poursin and Ponge (1982, 1984), Arpin et al. (1986) and Ponge et al. (1986).

All soils were acidic (pH < 5) and seasonally waterlogged (pseudogley), the humus form varying from oligomull (oak stand) to dysmull (mixed stand) then to dysmoder (pine stand). Sampling took place from November 1979 to January 1981. In each site three square plots 10 m x 10 m were selected, into which four (November 1979) then three quadrats 1 m x 1 m were casually selected every two months, to be sampled by forcing a 5-cm-diameter steel soil corer down to 10 cm depth.