The dataset (Kuznetsova et al. 2021) provides information on the number of individuals of springtail species collected in broad-leaf – cedar pine forests of three natural reserves in July 2016 and August 2017 (7550 occurrences). Three forests were examined in Ussuriiskii natural reserve, 2 – in Kedrovaya Pad’, 2 – in Sikhote-Alinskii natural reserve and 1 – in Chuguevsky District. The sampling plots “Fauri” and “Grabovaya” were in mountain forest, plots “Turova” and “Kedrovaya” were on a slope, plots “Pikhtovaya”, “Kema”, “Chuguev” and "Anikin" were in the river valleys. The material includes about 24 thousands individuals of 175 species from eight sampling series and 648 soil cores. They were collected by Natalia Kuznetsova, Mikhail Potapov, Anna Geraskina, Alexander Kuprin, Anastasia Korotkevich and were identified by Natalia Kuznetsova, Mikhail Potapov, Babenko Anatoly, Shveenkova Yulia.

The sampling was based on a multi-scale design to study the structure of biodiversity at different spatial scales (Lande 1996, Azovsky et al. 2000). A fractal arrangement of cores allows us to reduce sample effort because the same core is used for the analysis at different scales (Marsh and Ewers 2012). A few cases of applying the approach in soil zoology include testate amoebae (Tsyganov et al. 2014), oribatid mites (Bolger et al. 2014) and springtails (Kuznetsova and Saraeva 2018). We used the small size of the corer (8 cm² in section) to implement special attention on the diversity and spatial structure of the population at the micro level. Soil was investigated down to 20 cm. A total of 81 cores were taken in each sampling plot. Cores were placed in the corners of different-scale equilateral triangles inscribed in squares with sides 10 cm, 25 cm, 1 m and 10 m. The different-scale triangles were designed following the principles of fractal geometry. The sample design is described in detail by Saraeva et al. (2015).

Extraction of Collembola from cores: Plastic containers were used for storage and transportation of individual cores (Fig. 1). Each core was placed in a 0.3 litre plastic container with a vent hole covered with a gas cloth (Fig. 2). The containers were transported to MPGU (Moscow). Extraction of Collembola was performed in the laboratory using Tullgren's funnels at approximately 25^oC. Extraction into 70% alcohol was continued for 4-5 days until the cores were completely dry.

Figure 1.  

Plastic containers

Figure 2.  

One plastic container with a core

Laboratory processing: All the specimens were mounted on slides in Phoera liquid according to a standard procedure (Ghilarov 1975, Potapov and Kuznetsova 2011).

Sampling plots: Short descriptions of some sampling plots (“Turova”, “Grabovaya”, “Kedrovaya”, “Pikhtovaya”) were published (Kuznetsova et al. 2019). The descriptions of the other plots are given for the first time. All the plots were located on brown soil.

The sampling plot “Turova” (Figs 3, 4) is in the Ussuriiskii natural reserve; it is a cedar pine–deciduous forest on a flat slope (Pinus koraiensis Siebold & Zucc., Acer mandshuricum Maxim., Quercus mongolica Fisch. etc.); in the undergrowth Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim., Eleutherococcus senticosus (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. etc.; in the above-soil cover Oxalis acetosella L., Carex L., Adiantum pedatum L. etc. The dead cover was ~10 cm.

Figure 3.  

Above-soil cover in broad-leaf – cedar pine forest in Ussuriiskii natural reserve (plot “Turova”), photo by N. Kuznetsova.

Figure 4.  

Above-soil cover in broad-leaf – cedar pine forest in Ussuriiskii natural reserve (plot “Turova”), photo by N. Kuznetsova.

The sampling plot “Grabovaya” (Fig. 5) is in the Ussuriiskii natural reserve; it is on Mount Grabovaya, in fir–hornbeam forest (Abies holophylla Maxim., Carpinus cordata Blume, Pinus koraiensis, Betula costata Trautv. etc.); in the undergrowth are Caprinus cordata, Acer tegmentosum Maxim., Acer barbinerve Maxim. ex Miq., Eleutherococcus senticosus etc.; in the above-soil cover are Oxalis acetosella, Leptorumohra amurensis (Milde) Tzvelev etc. The dead cover is > 80% and the thickness of the litter is ~ 4 cm.

Figure 5.  

Mountain fir–hornbeam forest in Ussuriiskii natural reserve (plot “Grabovaya”), photo by N. Kuznetsova.

The sampling plot “Kedrovaya” is in the Kedrovaya Pad’ natural reserve; it is a cedar pine–fir broadleaved forest on a slope (Pinus koraiensis, Abies holophylla, Tilia mandshurica Rupr. & Maxim., Carpinus cordata etc.); in the undergrowth are five maple species, including Acer tegmentosum and Acer barbinerve; in the above-soil cover are Leptorumohra amurensis, Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai, Maianthemum dilatatum (Alph.Wood) A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr., Oxalis acetosella etc. The dead cover ~ 50% and the litter thickness is 4 cm.

The sampling plot “Pikhtovaya” is in the Kedrovaya Pad’ natural reserve; it is a valley fir and deciduous forest (Abies holophylla, Juglans mandshurica Maxim., Pinus koraiensis etc.); in the undergrowth are Juglans mandshurica, Carpinus cordata, Acer mono Maxim., Acer tegmentosum, Acer mandshuricum etc.; in the above-soil cover are Leptorumohra amurensis, Dryopteris crassirhizoma etc. The dead cover is ~ 50% and the thickness of the litter is 3–4 cm.

The sampling plot “Fauri” (Figs 6, 7) is in the Sikhote-Alinskii natural reserve, Kabani station, at 932 m alt.; it is a coniferous wood (Abies nephrolepis (Trautv. ex Maxim.) Maxim., Betula platyphylla Sukaczev, Pinus koraiensis); in the undergrowth are Rhododendrom fauriei Franch., Acer ukurunduense Trautv. & C.A.Mey., Picea jezoensis (Siebold & Zucc.) Carrière; in the above-soil cover are Leptorumohra amurensis, Oxalis acetosella, Maianthemum bifolium (L.) F.W.Schmidt etc. The dead cover is 50–100% and the thickness of the litter is 3–7 cm.

Figure 6.  

Above-soil cover in mountain coniferous forest with Rhododendrom fauriei (plot “Fauri”) in Sikhote-Alinskii natural reserve, photo by A. Geras'kina.

Figure 7.  

Mountain coniferous forest with Rhododendrom fauriei (plot “Fauri”) in Sikhote-Alinskii natural reserve, photo by R. Naumenko.

The sampling plot “Kema” is nearby the Sikhote-Alinskii natural reserve, in the valley of Brusnichnaya River (tributory of the Kema); it is mixed forest (Pinus koraiensis, Populus maximowiczii A.Henry, Picea jezoensis, Ulmus glabra Huds., Abies nephrolepis); in the undergrowth are Acer mono, Acer barbinerve, Acer tegmentosum, Philadelphus tenuifolius Rupr. & Maxim., Eleutherococcus senticosus etc.; in the above-soil cover are Leptorumohra amurensis, Oxalis acetosella, Maianthemum bifolium, Carex siderosticta Hance, Cardamine leucantha (Tausch) O.E.Schulz, Cacalia hastata L. etc. The dead cover is 5–65% and the thickness of the litter is 7–10 cm.

The sampling plot “Chuguev” (Figs 8, 9) is in the Chuguevski District near Verkneussuriyski Station of the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity; it is a valley mixed forest (Abies nephrolepis, Populus maximowiczii, Fraxinus mandshurica Rupr., Betula costata, Pinus koraiensis etc.); in the above-soil cover are Abies nephrolepis, Acer mono, Acer tegmentosum, Lonicera maackii, Philadelphus tenuifolius etc.; in the above-soil cover are Oxalis acetosella, Leptorumohra amurensis, Carex campylorhina V.I.Krecz., Cardamine leucantha, Athyrium rubripes (Kom.) Kom. etc.). The dead cover is 20–85% and the thickness of the litter is 6–9 cm.

Figure 8.  

Valley mixed forest (plot “Chuguev”), photo by A. Geras'kina.

Figure 9.  

Litter in plot “Chuguev”, photo by A. Geras'kina.

The sampling plot “Anikin” is in the Ussuriyskii natural reserve, Suvorovskoye forest district, Anikinsky station, valley of Anikin River; it is valley broadleaf forest (Juglans mandshurica, Populus maximowiczii, Fraxinus mandshurica) with Pinus koraiensis; in the above-soil cover are Carex L., Leptorumohra amurensis etc. The dead cover is 50–90% and the thickness of the litter is 3–4 cm.

We used both modern taxonomic papers and keys (Martynova 1988, Babenko et al. 1994, Potapov 2001) for the taxonomic determination of Collembola. The material was checked by leading experts in taxonomy of Collembola. Scientific names were checked using the GBIF species matching tool.

Data on species were digitised, standardised according to the Darwin Core (Wieczorek et al. 2012), the quality of the data was checked and errors were corrected and then published through GBIF.org (Kuznetsova et al. 2021).

Primorskii Krai of the Russian Far East (Fig. 10).

Figure 10.  

Geographic coverage. Study areas in the Primorskii Kraii (Kuznetsova et al. 2021, doi.org/10.15468/dyadwn).

43.115 and 45.648 Latitude; 131.487 and 137.01 Longitude.

So far, the taxonomical knowledge of different families and genera of Collembola is highly irregular in the area under study. Our identification of particular groups of Collembola, therefore, considerably depended on taxa. The species of Neelidae, Symphypleona, Lepidocyrtinae and Entomobryini were identified, based on the appearance (body size, colour pattern, length of limbs and other easily recognisable features), other taxa - on modern taxonomy, family Tomoceridae - on traditional characters. Families Hypogastruridae, Onychiuridae and Isotomidae were identified down mostly to species level, while the genera Isotoma and Desoria still are less certain and were differentiated as morpho-species (sp. 1, sp. 2 etc). Family Odontellidae is less understood in the area and so it was mostly represented by the "sp." in the list. Some species were described as new to science in the material: Anurida - 6 spp. n. (Babenko et al. 2019), Oligaphorura – 2 spp. n. (Xin et al. 2019); Pseudachorutes – 1 sp. n. and re-description of three species (Babenko et al. 2021).

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