Seasonal and Spatial Variation in the Soil Microarthropod Fauna of the White Sands National Monument

Santos, Paulo Henrique Fernandes dos; Whitford, Walter G.

doi:10.2307/3670821

Cited by 17 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…The relationship between the quantity of litter and organic matter for abundance and diversity of mites has been established by other authors, mainly in the Chihuahuan Desert (Santos and Whitford, 1983;Kamil et al, 1985;Steinberger and Whitford, 1985;Cepeda and Whitford, 1989;Noble et al, 1996). This relationship is supported in our study by the majority of positive correlations between litter abundance at the sites with rough crusts with the organic matter and nitrogen content.…”

Section: Taxonsupporting

confidence: 89%

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Microarthropod communities related with biological soil crusts in a desert scrub in northwestern Mexico

Villarreal‐Rosas¹,

Palacios‐Vargas²,

Maya³

2014

Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad

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In arid ecosystems, biological soil crusts closely interact with microarthropod communities. Together, both communities play one of the most important environmental services: decomposition of organic matter. In a desert scrub in the southern Baja California Peninsula of Mexico, microarthropod communities were correlated to biological soil crusts and the way soil properties influence distribution of the microarthropods. Twenty five soil samples were taken from 3 site types: without crusts (10), with crusts (10), and eroded surfaces (5). Microarthropods were extracted; specimens were identified to family level and feeding groups were identified. Of the 4 682 microarthropods within 40 taxa, Prostigmata had the greatest richness. The lack of plant coverage at eroded sites seems to affect microenvironmental conditions, so that no microarthropods were found at these sites and biological soil crusts were simple in structure. Among desert scrub, biological soil crusts were complex in structure, and edaphic properties were more favorable for microarthropods to thrive. Specific dissimilarities in community structure of microarthropods for each microhabitat were related to feeding preferences of each taxa.

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Section: Taxonsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Our survey found 7 Acari families in common with the 10 reported by Elkins and Whitford (1984). Other taxa were recorded by Santos and Whitford (1983), Cepeda and Whitford (1990), Noble et al (1996), Kay et al (1999). Most families collected are associated with arid environments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Microarthropod communities related with biological soil crusts in a desert scrub in northwestern Mexico

Villarreal‐Rosas¹,

Palacios‐Vargas²,

Maya³

2014

Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad

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“…Unvegetated soil in arid and semi‐arid regions is unsuitable as habitat for most soil organisms (Santos et al 1978;Santos & Whitford 1983;Elkins et al 1986). The reduced abundance and diversity of soil biota results in few macropores, thereby reducing infiltration (Bevan & Germann 1982).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity Testing of Indicators of Ecosystem Health

1997

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The sensitivities of three indicators of ecosystem health were evaluated at several sites in the Jornada Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico. The size of bare patches, proportion of total grass cover contributed by long-lived perennial grasses, and soil stability are interdependent indicators of ecosystem functions related to the retention and use of water and nutrients. Sensitivity tests were chosen using data collected along disturbance gradients and then tested using independent, ungrazed exclosures and adjacent grazed pastures. The mean size of bare soil patches was sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance. When bare soil patch data were transformed using natural logarithms, the skewness of the frequency distribution weighted by mean bare patch size could be used to indicate early disturbance to the ecosystem. The proportion of total vegetation that was long lived also was sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and appears to be a good indicator of ecosystem degradation. The slake test for soil surface stability was extremely sensitive to disturbance and may serve as an early-warning indicator of soil degradation for the coarse-textured soils that were evaluated.

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Soil and litter microarthropod populations from two contrasting ecosystems in semi-arid eastern Australia

Noble

Whitford

Kaliszweski

1996

Journal of Arid Environments

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Seasonal and Spatial Variation in the Soil Microarthropod Fauna of the White Sands National Monument

Cited by 17 publications

References 6 publications

Microarthropod communities related with biological soil crusts in a desert scrub in northwestern Mexico

Microarthropod communities related with biological soil crusts in a desert scrub in northwestern Mexico

Sensitivity Testing of Indicators of Ecosystem Health

Soil and litter microarthropod populations from two contrasting ecosystems in semi-arid eastern Australia

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