Abstract
Density, diversity and assemblage structure of Mesostigmata (cohorts Gamasina and Uropodina) were investigated in Scots pine forests differing in forest age (young: 9–40 years and mature: 83–101 years) in which wildfire occurred. This animal group belongs to the dominant acarine predators playing a crucial role in soil food webs and being important as biological control agents. In total, six forests (three within young and three within mature stands) were inspected in Puszcza Knyszyńska Forest Complex in May 2015. At each forest area, sampling was done from burned and adjacent control sites with steel cylinders for heat extraction of soil fauna. Data were analyzed statistically with nested ANOVA. We found a significant effect on mite density of both fire and forest age, with more mites in mature forests and control plots. In total, 36 mite taxa were identified. Mite diversity differed significantly between forest ages but not between burned versus control. Our study indicated that all studied forests are characterized by unique mite species and that the mite communities are dominated by different mite species depending on age forest and surface wildfire occurrence. Finally, canonical correspondence analysis ranked the mite assemblages from control mature, through burned young and burned mature, away from the control young.
Highlights
Fire is a dominant large-scale disturbance factor in many of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems including forests (Malmstrom 2012)
Our study indicated that all studied forests are characterized by unique mite species and that the mite communities are dominated by different mite species depending on age forest and surface wildfire occurrence
We addressed the following hypotheses: (1) abundance and species richness of mites is reduced by surface wildfire regardless forest class age, and (2) surface wildfire reduces the population densities of large and mobile predators living in the upper layers of the litter
Summary
Fire is a dominant large-scale disturbance factor in many of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems including forests (Malmstrom 2012) It can affect both the above ground part of the forest ecosystems by burning the shrubs and trees and the soil environment (Buhk et al 2007; Certini 2005). Recent studies have indicated that the climatic changes (i.e. rising temperatures and water stress) are expected to have a great impact on fire risk around the globe (Moriondo et al 2006). This assumption applies to temperate forests in Southern and Central Europe (Allen et al 2010) as climatic changes will lead to a more pronounced continental climate characterised by a higher occurrence of droughts and fire danger (Gerstengabe et al 1999). The average area burned per fire is rather low, due to the availability and efficiency of fire-fighting resources and infrastructures (Gerth 2001), recent reports of the European Commission Joint Research Centre on Forests (ECJRC 2016) concluded that the area burned by forest fires in the European Union could double by the end of the century as a consequence of climate change
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