Soil Mite (Acari: Mesostigmata) Communities and Their Relationships with Some Environmental Variables in Experimental Grasslands from Bucegi Mountains in Romania

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 285
• Main Authors: Manu, Minodora, Băncilă, Raluca Ioana, Mountford, Owen John, Maruşca, Teodor, Blaj, Vasile Adrian, Onete, Marilena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 14-03-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic factors; abundance; Acari; Agrochemicals; Altitude; Biodiversity; Cattle; Dispersal; dispersion; Ecosystems; Environmental conditions; Experiments; fertilizer; Flowers & plants; Grasslands; Indicator species; Invertebrates; Manures; Mesostigmata; mite; Mites; Moisture content; Moisture effects; Moisture resistance; Mountains; Multivariate analysis; Penetration resistance; Plant species; R&D; Research & development; richness; Soil analysis; Soil conditions; Soil dispersion; Soil fauna; Soil fertility; Soil improvement; Soil investigations; Soil moisture; Soil resistance; Soil temperature; Species richness; Vegetation; Vegetation cover; Water content; Bucegi Mountains; Europe; Romania; richness; dispersion; fertilizer; mite; abundance
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects13030285

The main objective of the study was to analyse, for the first time in Romania, the relationships between five experimental grasslands and Mesostigmata fauna, considering: (1) the structural differences between mite communities; (2) the variations in some important abiotic factors (vegetation cover, soil temperature, soil moisture content, pH, soil resistance at penetration); and (3) the influence of these abiotic factors on the structures of Mesostigmata mite communities and the dispersal rates of these communities between the investigated plots. In total, 250 soil samples were analysed in July 2017, revealing the presence of 30 species, with 1163 individuals. Using the multivariate analysis, we observed that each experimental plot was defined by characteristic environmental conditions, i.e., vegetation cover, soil moisture content, and soil temperature differed significantly between the experimental grasslands. Each experimental plot was characterised by a specific indicator species and population parameters (numerical abundance and species richness). The effects of these soil variables were even demonstrated at species level:
,
and
were influenced by vegetation cover,
and
by soil temperature. The dispersal rates of mite communities from one plot to another were higher in the grasslands, where there were euconstant-constant species.