The abundance of Collembola collected from ectomycorrhizal hyphal mats of Tricholoma matsutake

The number of collembolans collected from hyphal mat soil of ectomycorrhizal fungus, Tricholoma matsutake was examined to investigate whether the ectomycorrhizal mat always includes larger numbers of collembolans than did the non-mat soil. The number of collembolans collected from hyphal mat soil did not differ significantly from that from the adjacent non-mat soil in most case. The temporarily aggregation of Isotomidae collembolans on hyphal mat of T. matsutake were observed on 2 December 2002, though the number of collembolans collected from the hyphal mat soil did not differ significantly from those collected from the adjacent non-mat soil because of a wide range of variety of the data. Fungal materials contained in the gut of the Isotomidae population consisted mostly of hyphal fragments of dematiaceous fungi and unknown basidiomycetes. Since the hyphae of T. matsutake seem to play a small role as a food resource for collembolans in the field, the existence of the hyphal mat of T. matsutake did not affect the number of collembolans inhabiting the soil.