Abstract
Coarse woody debris (CWD) is a basic component of forest ecosystems and it plays a crucial role in species-poor boreal forests. Generally, previous studies have focused on differences between the forest floor and decaying logs of various tree species. The impact of distance to CWD has been investigated mainly for forest-floor snails and some groups of macrofauna, but not yet for mesostigmatid mites communities. We hypothesized that the effect of CWD decreases with increasing distance from CWD. To test this hypothesis we conducted a study in relatively species-poor Finnish boreal forest (at ca. 100 km northwest of Helsinki). In total, 81 samples were collected in 2007 from nine Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) stumps, three microhabitats (CWD, soil/litter at 0.5 m from a stump and soil/litter at 1.5 m from a stump) and in three main directions (9 stumps × 3 microhabitats × 3 directions). Overall, 1965 mesostigmatid mites were collected representing 24 species. The mean number of mite species collected was significantly different between decaying stumps and forest litter; however, there was no significant difference between the litter samples at 0.5 and 1.5 m distance. The evenness index was significantly lower for samples collected from stumps than for litter in close (0.5 m) or far (1.5 m) distance. The most frequently encountered mite species were Veigaia nemorensis, Parazercon radiatus and Zercon zelawaiensis.
Highlights
Boreal forests are generally considered to be species-poor ecosystem when compared to tropical forests (Martikainen et al 2000)
The mean number of mite species collected was significantly different between decaying stumps and forest litter; there was no significant difference between the litter samples at 0.5 and 1.5 m distance
Our study indicated that Coarse woody debris (CWD) is characterized by higher abundance and diversity of mesostigmatid mites than soil/litter
Summary
Boreal forests are generally considered to be species-poor ecosystem when compared to tropical forests (Martikainen et al 2000). Boreal forests were profoundly affected during the 1900s by large-scale intensive forestry in northern areas. This impact, which is clearly visible in Fennoscandia, Russia and Canada (Syrjanen et al 1996; Bryant et al 1997), can lead to ecological changes at the landscape as well as the local stand scale (Niemela 1999). One of the most important factors that can locally enhance the species diversity and provides a habitat connectivity in forest ecosystems is coarse woody debris (CWD) (Kappes et al 2009). The importance of CWD for nutrient turnover and for conservation on saproxylic (depending of dead wood) organisms is well established (SiiraPietikainen et al 2008)
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