Multifactorial drivers shape taxonomic and functional structure of soil Collembola in land uses in a Mediterranean ecosystem

Land use strongly influences soil biodiversity through complex interactions that reshape Collembola communities, that remains poorly investigated across Mediterranean contexts. This research aimed to assess how contrasting land uses structure Collembola assemblages by integrating taxonomic composition, eco-morphological traits, the Collembola-based Biological Soil Quality index (QBS-c), and soil abiotic properties. Fourteen sites in five land uses (forest, kiwifruit orchards, vineyards, urban, and industrial/peri-urban soils) were sampled in Southern Italy. At each site, eight sampling points yielded 112 composite soil samples for physicochemical analyses and 336 samples for Collembola extraction. Collembola assemblage differed significantly among land uses. Forest soils supported the highest species richness (3.3 spp) with intermediate densities (4558 ind m−2). Urban and industrial/peri-urban soils showed the highest densities (8280 and 7869 ind m−2). Agricultural soils displayed the lowest richness and density (kiwifruit: 2273 ind m−2, 2.1 spp; vineyards: 1419 ind m−2, 1.7 spp). Eco-morphological distributions varied markedly: epigeous forms prevailed in forests (39.4%), hemi-edaphic forms in vineyards (45.1%), and eu-edaphic forms in industrial (57.9%) and urban soils (51.8%). QBS-c ranged from 27.1 (kiwifruit) to 56.5 (urban), confirming its complementarity with eco-morphological structure. Overall, forest soil hosted more evenly partitioned and potentially more resilient assemblages, whereas urban and industrial soils concentrated high densities within a narrow set of redundant taxa. Agricultural soil emerged as the most depleted system, exhibiting reduced taxonomic and functional diversity. These findings highlight that Collembola responses to land use in Mediterranean soils are context-dependent and can be more effectively captured by integrating taxonomic and trait-based indicators.