Garden composters as refugia for myriapods: environmental factors shaping species distribution

Abstract

Home composting has become an increasingly popular method for organic waste management; however, the invertebrate communities inhabiting garden compost remain poorly studied. The present study focused on myriapod (centipede and millipede) communities in 61 home composters in the Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Heat extraction yielded 82 centipede individuals representing seven species and 36 millipede individuals representing five species. The most abundant species were Lithobius microps Meinert, 1868, Lithobius forficatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Polydesmus inconstans Latzel, 1884, and Choneiulus palmatus (Němec, 1895). Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that myriapod distribution was significantly influenced by composter design (where open systems appears better for myriapods), waste composition (particularly animal residues and garden waste), phosphorus content, and waste addition frequency. Generalized additive models identified species-specific responses: Stenotaenia linearis (C. L. Koch, 1835) was strongly associated with animal waste (R² = 66.2%), while Geophilus flavus (De Geer, 1778) and C. palmatus preferred compost containing garden waste only. Our results demonstrate that garden composters function as concentration points for myriapod species from surrounding habitats, providing favourable microhabitat conditions and food resources. Despite low overall myriapod abundance (1.5% of all sampled invertebrates), species richness was relatively high, and management practices significantly influenced community composition. The present study highlights the ecological significance of home composters as potential biodiversity refuges in urban habitats, and calls for greater research attention to invertebrate communities in garden compost.