An overview of fauna and community structure of Oribatid mites (acari, sarcoptiformes, oribatida) in the main ecosystem types from the Central Moldavian Plateau (Romania)

Abstract

The present study is an overview of the fauna and structure of the oribatid communities in the main types of ecosystems from the Central Moldavian Plateau, in order to highlight the extent to which land use and habitats’ peculiarities are reflected within these edaphic coenoses. Investigations have shown that in forest ecosystems oribatid fauna is richest and most diverse in terms of taxonomy, compared to other types of ecosystems, the variety of trophic resources and the multitude of ecological niches in forest soils explaining these differences. Zoogeographical spectrum analysis of oribatid fauna evidences the growing weight of cosmopolitan species, from forests and plantations to agro-ecosystems and pastures. It was also noted that species with southern distribution are less represented in forest ecosystems, while in the soil of agricultural crops and pastures their share is higher. Regarding the ecological spectrum, it was found that forest species have the highest weight in the natural forests, grassland species - in meadows, but also in forest plantations, while the proportion of eurytopic elements is the highest in agro-ecosystems and pastures. Xerophilous and meso-xerophilous species are well represented in the whole fauna, but especially in grassland ecosystems, which indicate that forest preserves a less arid microclimate with lower oscillations of temperature and humidity. Analysis of the edifying species’ distribution in the considered ecosystems, based on their representativity revealed several distinct species groups in terms of preferences to a particular type of habitat, which illustrates the selectivity of oribatids in relation to bio-edaphic conditions and their bio-indicator value.