MAGDALENA MAŚLAK

University of Silesia,
Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, Departament of Ecology;
Bankowa 9, 40-007 Katowice
e-mail: magdalena.maslak@gmail.com

Description popularizing the research project

Biology does not know what immortality is. What is born, must die and make room for the next generation. Each creature gifted with even a tiny bit of self awareness must deal with the fact. Yet in biology each death matters. The matter is back in circulation, the energy changes its form. Death of a tree is really spectacular and full of majesty especially if the tree does not fall by the chainsaw. The most valuable, from the biological point of view, is the gradual death of ancient oaks, beech trees and pines weakened by their age, struck by lightning, infested with bark beetles and fungi. Fallen by strong winds the dead tree immediately becomes a perfect settlement for all the creatures great and small that want to benefit from the dead log until it falls apart completely to become home for bacteria and fungi. They will make the rotten wood glow in the dark like a wood spectre. But before it happens the fallen tree will be covered by moss and lichen, and its inside will be inhabited by tiny invertebrates feeding on organic matter. The wealth of organisms living on dead wood is unbelievable. How vital it must be for the life of the forestł!
In industrially exploited forests there are no dead trees. Planned economy requires cutting old trees when they can still be used by the industry. In our forests there are few hollowed oaks or spruces where hoopoes or owls could settle down. Forest without old dying trees is not a real one. In a real forest fallen logs overgrown with moss and ferns form an integral part of the living organism which is a forest and they are hard to spot in the thick undergrowth. We need more researches to describe the life which goes on in seemingly dead wood. We know the young seedlings often grow on fallen trunks of the same species. Maybe it is where the secret of immortality lies?

Abstract

The death of the tree is one of the most common processes in life of the forest. Dead wood is a natural component of a healthy forest. Depending on community type and age of the forest, dead wood could reach a half of the living trees volume. Amount of dead wood in managed forests is much smaller. The role of dead wood had been underestimated for a long time but recently we have finally appreciated it.
The influence of dead wood on Oribatida (Acari) and other microarthropods is still little known, despite its importance in forest functioning. The subject of this project is s community of oribatid mites associated with fallen beech logs (Fagus sylvatica L.). Project includes research carried out in Babia Góra National Park and Las Murckowski Reserve. During the research the beech fallen logs at consecutive stages of decay and the soil and the litter samples at different distances from the logs were collected. An accurate analysis of the course of Oribatida communities was carried out with reference to the number of environmental parameters, both biotic (the number and the kind of microhabitats, the biomass of the mycelium and the activity of micro-organisms), and abiotic (connected with mechanical, physical and chemical properties of the soil) and their influence on the Oribatida biodiversity. In beech forests the oribatids fauna is relatively poor. Beech logs are essential for these organisms and they create the centre of biodiversity. One of more important settlements taken by oribatids in dead wood seem to be mosses and the fungi connected with this habitat.
The described project constitutes an essential contribution to determining the role of dead wood for soil microarthropods. Research results could provide many valuable data on autecology of some Oribatida species in dead wood. Practical application of the results is possible in the forest management, in order to increase the species diversity of forest soil fauna.