Distribution of large soil invertebrates as related to soil parameters

The study of three types of forest soils has shown virtually no reliable relationships between the distribution of large soil invertebrates and the soil parameters (the stone content, pH, litter thickness, etc.) when the sample area has a size of 76 cm2. However, an increase in the size of the observation plots by two to four times (depending on the particular soil type) makes it possible to find statistically significant coefficients of correlation between the studied parameters. Thus, the size of the sample area influences our assessment of the relationships between the abundance of large invertebrates and the soil parameters. In each of the studied types of forest soils, the heterogeneity of the soil structure is manifested at different scales. A correct forecast of the effect of the factors of the soil on the population of large invertebrates depends on the spatial distribution of these factors.