The aim of the present study was to establish the effect of management type and of environmental variables on the structure, abundance and species richness of soil mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in twelve urban green areas in Bucharest-Romania. Three categories of ecosystem based upon management type were investigated: protected area, managed (metropolitan, municipal and district parks) and unmanaged urban areas. The environmental variables which were analysed were: soil and air temperature, soil moisture and atmospheric humidity, soil pH and soil penetration resistance. In June 2017, 480 soil samples were taken, using MacFadyen soil core. The same number of measures was made for quantification of environmental variables. Considering these, we observed that soil temperature, air temperature, air humidity and soil penetration resistance differed significantly between all three types of managed urban green area. All investigated environmental variables, especially soil pH, were significantly related to community assemblage. Analysing the entire Mesostigmata community, 68 species were identified, with 790 individuals and 49 immatures. In order to highlight the response of the soil mite communities to the urban conditions, Shannon, dominance, equitability and soil maturity indices were quantified. With one exception (numerical abundance), these indices recorded higher values in unmanaged green areas compared to managed ecosystems. The same trend was observed between different types of managed green areas, with metropolitan parks having a richer acarological fauna than the municipal or district parks.
This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in
SE Europe and adjacent regions: red algae Lemanea fucina and Paralemanea
annulata, parasitic fungus Anthracoidea pratensis, saprotrophic fungi
Cyathus olla, Massaria campestris, and Xylaria sicula, stonewort Chara
canescens, liverworts Gymnomitrion commutatum and Porella baueri, moss
Acaulon triquetrum, monocots Anacamptis laxiflora, Cephalanthera damasonium,
and Himantoglossum robertianum and dicot Jacobaea othonnae are given within
SE Europe and adjacent regions.
This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in
SE Europe and adjacent regions: red algae Hildenbrandia rivularis,
saprotrophic fungus Cryptomarasmius corbariensis, lichenised fungi Lecanora
stenotropa, Micarea misella and Sticta sylvatica, liverworts Fossombronia
caespitiformis and Peltolepis quadrata, mosses Dicranoweisia cirrata and
Fissidens exilis, horsetail Equisetum ? moorei, gymnosperm Juniperus
virginiana, monocots Galanthus reginae-olgae subsp. vernalis and Spiranthes
spiralis and dicots Linaria pelisseriana, Parthenocissus quinquefolia,
Pilosella rhodopea and Taraxacum erythrospermum are given within SE Europe
and adjacent regions.
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