Soil Macroinvertebrate Census Along a Metal Pollution Gradient in the Central Urals, 2004

A 2004 census of topsoil macroinvertebrates in spruce-fir forests along a pollution gradient from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter. The dataset consists of 340 sampling events across two soil layers, recording 64,658 occurrences and 8,430 collected individuals across multiple taxa. It was created by Е. Л. Воробейчик of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology for ecotoxicological monitoring of forest ecosystems.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between heavy metal contamination (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd) and soil macrofauna community structure based on the described pollution gradient.
• Analyzing species-level abundance and diversity for taxa like Arachnids and Gastropods based on the detailed taxonomic counts provided.
• Comparing invertebrate abundance between organic and organic-mineral soil horizons based on the two-layer sampling structure.
• Conducting long-term ecotoxicological monitoring by establishing a baseline using the 2004 census data.

Strengths

• Includes 8,430 collected individuals identified across multiple taxonomic groups, with specific counts provided (e.g., 1,046 Arachnids, 741 Gastropods).
• Captures data from 340 sampling events across two soil layers, providing a structured view of vertical distribution.
• Records 64,658 occurrences, combining both presence and absence data for each taxon per sample.
• Offers species-level identification for key groups like Arachnids and Carabids, while other groups are identified to family or order.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.

Provenance

Source

Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology

Collection Method

Census of topsoil macroinvertebrates from soil monoliths collected along a pollution gradient.

Time Range

2004

Geography

Spruce-fir forests in the Central Urals, Russia, near the Middle Ural Copper Smelter.