Zoological Studies

Vol. 64, 2025

Does Seasonality Influence the α and β-diversity of Soil Fauna? A Case Study of Terrestrial Isopods (Isopoda, Oniscidea) Assemblage in the Colombian Caribbean Tropical Dry Forest

Katty Margarita Morales-Vega1, Carlos Mario López-Orozco2,3,*, Yesenia M. Carpio-Díaz2,3, Ricardo Borja-Arrieta2,3, Carlos Taboada-Verona4, Ivanklin Soares Campos-Filho5, and Gabriel R. Navas-S6
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1Grupo de Investigación en Biología Descriptiva y Aplicada, Universidad de Cartagena, Programa de Biología, Campus San Pablo, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. E-mail: kmoralesv@unicartagena.edu.co (Margarita Morales-Vega)
2Laboratório de Estudos Subterrâneos, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil. *Correspondence: E-mail: clopezo1610@gmail.com (López-Orozco)
E-mail: ycarpiodiaz@gmail.com (Carpio-Díaz); rborjaa@unicartagena.edu.co (Borja-Arrieta)
3Grupo de Investigación en Artrópodos Neotropicales, Universidad de Cartagena, Programa de Biología, Campus San Pablo, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
4Universidad de Sucre, Sincelejo, Colombia. E-mail: carlostaboada87@gmail.com (Taboada-Verona)
5Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, Lefkosia (Nicosia), Cyprus. E-mail: ivanklin.filho@gmail.com (Campos-Filho)
6Grupo de Investigación Hidrobiología, Universidad de Cartagena, Programa de Biología, Campus San Pablo, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. E-mail: gnavass@unicartagena.edu.co (Navas-S)

(Received 18 July 2024 / Accepted 12 January 2025 / Published -- 2025)
Communicated by Huiyu Wang

Terrestrial isopods are important to forest soils, breaking down decaying plant material and aiding in nutrient recycling. Despite their ecological significance, studies on their diversity and dynamics in Neotropical dry forests are limited. This research investigated the seasonality of the alpha and beta diversity of terrestrial isopod assemblages in a protected fragment of Tropical Dry Forest in the Colombian Caribbean. We sampled isopods in 1 m² units of litter, and recorded soil and litter temperatures, and moisture during twelve field trips conducted between June 2018 and March 2019 in rainy, transition, and dry climatic seasons. A total of 867 individuals belonging to four families, six genera, and eight species were collected. Alpha diversity did not show significant differences across seasons. However, abundance was significantly influenced by seasonality, soil temperature, litter temperature, and soil moisture. Moreover, species richness was affected by soil moisture and litter temperature. Our results highlight pronounced seasonality in the isopod assemblage, characterized by balanced variation in beta diversity, with higher abundance during the transition and rainy seasons. The observed increase in the variables, correlated with higher total beta diversity, underscores their role as drivers of seasonal dynamics in assemblage structure. Soil temperature and moisture significantly influenced balanced variation component of beta diversity. The identified seasonal pattern likely results from the historical adaptive processes of these species to the conditions of the tropical dry forest. Nonetheless, effective conservation strategies are essential to mitigate the impacts of climate change on edaphic arthropod assemblages in this ecosystem.

Key words: Seasonal diversity, Neotropical, Climate change, Woodlice, Soil arthropods

Citation:Morales-Vega KM, López-Orozco CM, Carpio-Díaz YM, Borja-Arrieta R, Taboada-Verona C, Campos-Filho IS, Navas-S GR. 2025. Does seasonality influence the α and β-diversity of soil fauna? A case study of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda, Oniscidea) assemblage in the Colombian Caribbean tropical dry forest. Zool Stud 64:05.

Supplementary materials: Fig. S1Fig. S2