The potential of Collembola to act as indicators of landscape stress in Australia

Collembola have been used to assess the ecological status of a range of ecosystems in Australia over the last 35 years. The traits that Collembola possess that make them valuable as ecological indicators are listed. Examples of situations where they have been used to measure impacts in mainly agricultural landscapes are described and the contributions the results have made to management for ecological sustainability are noted. Densities of exotic and native species in a variety of ecosystems are provided and a list of genera with exotic species in Australia is given. A protocol for comprehensively surveying Collembola is described and a critique of different methods given.