Soil pore volume and the abundance of soil mites in two contrasting habitats

• Published in: Soil biology & biochemistry Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 1538 - 1541
• Main Authors: Nielsen, Uffe N., Osler, Graham H.R., van der Wal, René, Campbell, Colin D., Burslem, David F.R.P.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2008; New York, NY Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Betula; Biochemistry and biology; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical, physicochemical, biochemical and biological properties; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; heathland soils; Mesostigmata; Microarthropods; mites; Oribatida; Physics, chemistry, biochemistry and biology of agricultural and forest soils; population dynamics; Sarcoptiformes; Scotland; soil arthropods; soil organic matter; soil pore system; Soil pore volume; Soil science; spatial variation; woodland soils; Zoology (interactions between soil fauna and agricultural or forest soils); Scotland; Microarthropods; Mesostigmata; Oribatida; Soil pore volume; Parasitiformes; Meiofauna; Fauna; Soils; Acariformes; Arachnida; Soil fauna; Acari; Pore; Arthropoda; Habitat; Soil science; Invertebrata; Gamasida
• ISSN: 0038-0717; 1879-3428
• DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2007.12.029

Microarthropods are mainly found in the organic layer of soils but show high spatial variability in abundance that remains poorly understood. A factor that could be influencing the abundance of microarthropods is the soil pore volume. Consequently, we tested the hypothesis that mite abundance is related to soil pore volume in two contrasting habitats. Heather moorland and birch woodland, with contrasting humus forms, showed high within-habitat variation in soil pore volume and mite abundance. The abundance of oribatid mites in both habitats and the abundance of mesostigmatid mites in heather moorland were strongly and positively related to the volume of pores in the range 60–300μm. This supports the hypothesis that mite abundance is influenced by soil pore volume and we stress that soil structure should be considered as an explanatory variable when studying microarthropod communities.