Back to Search
Start Over
Effects of root and leaf litter identity and diversity on oribatid mite abundance, species richness and community composition
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 7, p e0219166 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Habitat heterogeneity is an important driver of aboveground species diversity but few studies have investigated effects on soil communities. Trees shape their surrounding by both leaf litter and roots generating small scale heterogeneity and potentially governing community patterns of soil organisms. To assess the role of vegetation for the soil fauna, we studied whether tree species (Fagus sylvatica L., Acer pseudoplatanus L., Fraxinus excelsior L., Tilia cordata Mill.), markedly differing in leaf litter quality and root associated mycorrhizal symbionts, affect oribatid mite communities by shaping below- and aboveground resources and habitat complexity and availability. Oribatid mite abundance, species richness, community structure and the proportion of litter living and parthenogenetic individuals were analyzed and related to microbial biomass and the amount of remaining litter mass. Although leaf litter species with higher nutritional values decomposed considerably faster, microbial biomass only slightly differed between leaf litter species. Neither root species nor leaf litter species affected abundance, species richness or community structure of oribatid mites. However, root species had an effect on the proportion of parthenogenetic individuals with increased proportions in the presence of beech roots. Overall, the results suggest that identity and diversity of vegetation via leaf litter or roots are of minor importance for structuring oribatid mite communities of a temperate forest ecosystem. Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2019 peerReviewed
- Subjects :
- Leaves
Fungal Structure
Arthropoda
Ecological Metrics
Science
Population Dynamics
Beeches
Acer
Plant Science
Mycology
Forests
Plant Roots
Ecosystems
Trees
Species Specificity
Mycorrhizae
Fagus
Animals
Tilia
Biomass
Symbiosis
Mites
Species diversity
Community structure
Fungal structure
Community Structure
Ecosystem
Ecology
Plant Anatomy
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
Eukaryota
Species Diversity
Plants
Invertebrates
Terrestrial Environments
Plant Leaves
Fraxinus
Community Ecology
Medicine
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PloS one
- Accession number :
- edsair.pmid.dedup....b5f25f32701e7de126bac401e8112243