New records of springtails in New Zealand pasture: How well are our pastoral invertebrates known?

Abstract

Twenty-four collembolan species are recorded from improved pastures and clovers in New Zealand, of which 17 can be named to species or probable species, the others only to genus. Of the 17 named species, nine have been recorded before from New Zealand but the other eight are new records for the country. All named species are considered as introduced to New Zealand, probably originally from Europe and are unlikely to colonise native habitats. As all named species reported as new records can be abundant at times, this indicates poor knowledge of a major part of New Zealand's agricultural fauna. Collembola are a group of important microarthropod detritivores that make a significant contribution to ecosystem services. The absence so far of quantification of the contribution this and other soil groups make to ecological resilience and function is a serious problem. © 2013 The Royal Society of New Zealand.