Awesome or ordinary? Global diversity patterns of oribatid mites

Abstract

Diversity of most above-ground organisms increases with decreasing latitude, but the biogeographical and macroecological diversity patterns of below-ground animals have been poorly studied. We investigated the latitudinal diversity gradient in a primarily below-ground living soil taxon, oribatid mites. Furthermore, oribatid mite species richness from islands and mainlainds was tested for correlation with the size of the respective area (island or mainland) to evaluate if their species Áarea relationships are similar to those of above-ground taxa. The results suggest that for oribatid mites 1) diversity increases from the boreal to the warm temperate region but not further to the tropics, and 2) species Áarea relationships for islands and mainlands are similar to those of aboveground taxa, but this is mainly caused by very small islands, such as Cocos islands, and very large islands, such as Madagascar. When these islands are excluded the species Áarea relationship strongly differs from those of typical islands. The results support the view that below-ground animal taxa are generalists that inhabit wide niches. Most small islands have relatively rich oribatid mite faunas, supporting the observation that a large number of species can coexist in a small area (high a-diversity).

Temperature-based bioclimatic parameters can predict nematode metabolic footprints

“…Soil fungi are more tolerant than bacteria to temperatures that are above optimum (Barcenas-Moreno et al 2009) and appear to increase their activity after a long-term increase of temperature, as indicated by fruit body production (Gange et al 2007). Organisms feeding on fungi are also more tolerant to elevated temperatures (Stamou and Sgardelis 1989;Maraun et al 2007) and increase in abundance when moisture is not a limiting factor (Day et al 2009;Kardol et al 2010). In general organisms belonging to the fungal-based food web channel have been found to be more resistant and better able to adapt to climate change associated with drought (de Vries et al 2012).…”

Influence of habitat type and natural disturbances on uropodine mite communities (Acari: Mesostigmata: Uropodina) in oak-hornbeam forests in Central Europe

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