Dead Wood as an Element Enriching Biodiversity of Forest Ecosystems: A Case Study Based on Mites from the Suborder Uropodina (Acari: Parasitiformes)

Jerzy Błoszyk,Szymon Konwerski,Tomasz Rutkowski,Michał Zacharyasiewicz,Agnieszka Napierała

doi:10.3390/d13100476

Abstract

The importance of dead wood in forest ecosystems for the existence of invertebrates has been widely discussed in the literature. The major aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that the presence of dead wood in forests considerably increases the species diversity of Uropodina (Acari: Parasitiformes) communities in a given area. The areas selected for the study are unique from a natural point of view. They are the Białowieża Primeval Forest, Cisy Staropolskie im. Leona Wyczółkowskiego Nature Reserve, and five oak-hornbeam nature reserves in western Poland. The study is based on materials collected since the 1960s of the last century. The highest number of species (37) both in soil and dead wood microhabitats was recorded in the Białowieża Primeval Forest and Cisy Staropolskie Nature Reserve, though the dead wood material from the second area contained the highest number of species (33). The results of the analysis show that the presence of dead wood increases species diversity of Uropodina communities in all locations under scrutiny. Moreover, dead wood increases the species diversity of Uropodina communities by attracting rare and stenotopic species, and therefore leaving dead trees in forests is extremely important for the habitat protection of these species.

Highlights

The common term “dead wood” used to describe unstable microhabitat explicitly suggests that this type of habitat results from the death of trees in a forest, which can be a natural process or caused by human activities
Forest management is very important as it often consists in removing dead wood from forests, which can be observed in commercial forests [1], or leaving it permanently, such as in the case of nature reserves and national parks [1,2,3,4,5]
This suggests that of8 dead wood merocenoses enriches the species diversity of the Uropodina communities in the examined areas by 37%

Summary

Introduction

The common term “dead wood” used to describe unstable microhabitat explicitly suggests that this type of habitat results from the death of trees in a forest, which can be a natural process or caused by human activities. Special attention should be paid to the recent heavy storms and tornadoes observed in the past few years, which are the result of the progressive global climate changes, often causing considerable destruction of tree stands (windthrow) in large areas. In such cases, foresters usually dispose of the whole trees felled by the wind, with the exception of legally protected areas (i.e., national parks and nature reserves), where the legal regulations do not allow to do so

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