Acid-tolerant Collembola cannot colonize metal-polluted soils at neutral pH

In: Applied Soil Ecology, 2004, 26 (3), pp.201-208. A microcosm experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that Collembola living in an acid soil (pH 4) were able to colonize a heavy metal-polluted soil of pH 7. After 6-month incubation, the added fauna were not recovered, except for a few individuals, while the original fauna were still as abundant as at the beginning of the experiment. It was concluded that, despite similarities between the chemical environment of acid soils and that of metal-polluted soils, differences in biotic and abiotic factors prevent acid-tolerant populations from surviving and reproducing in a polluted site.