SPRINGTAILS (HEXAPODA, COLLEMBOLA) OF TUNDRA LANDSCAPES OF THE KOLA PENINSULA

A quantitative study of collembolan assemblages on the Barents Sea coast of Kola Peninsula was performed. Altogether, 104 collembolan species of 55 genera and 16 families were found. An analysis of the faunal composition revealed its high similarity to that of the faunas of the neighboring Norwegian regions as well as a marked impoverishment in species richness as compared to Siberian analogues. A high share of littoral forms with an increased vagility and the predominance of species with "southern" (= boreal) and "western" distribution patterns are the main characteristics of the fauna under study; only a few really arctic forms was found, always with low abundance and occurrence levels. The majority of the studied collembolan assemblages were characterized by a dominance of a few species which inhabit a part or whole spectrum of plant communities. As a result, distinctions of collembolan assemblages under various types of vegetation cover on different landscape elements are frequently insignificant.