Abstract:

As an important part in forest ecosystems, the arthropod communities in the forest litter are closely related to forest health. Based on the ecological function, community structure and biology of the arthropods, we discuss the theoretical basis for the selection of particular groups of arthropods as bio-indicators in this paper, and suggest that the evenness and richness of Collembola (Collembolan), Coleoptera (Beetle) and Hymenoptera (Ant) can serve as forest health indicators. In terms of the relationship between forest litter arthropods and forest health, we summarize the main groups of forest litter arthropods suitable as bio-indicators and their ecological functions in forest ecosystems, and subsequently introduce a simple and accurate new method for selecting forest health indicator species by comparing the frequencies of the various species in different habitats. This method was tested with a real case using forest litter arthropods as a bio-indicator to evaluate rain forest health. Finally, the problems in using forest litter arthropods to evaluate and monitor forest habitat health are discussed and the use of multiple bio-indicator species in order to establish a balanced index system is recommended.

Key words: litters, arthropods, bio-indicators, forest health, IndVal method