Morpho-ecological structure of oribatid mite (Acariformes, Oribatida) communities in the forest litter of recultivated areas

A Pokhylenko,B Levchenko,N Khromykh,O Didur,T Lykholat,Y Kulbachko

doi:10.15421/011944

Abstract

The study of morpho-ecological organization of oribatid mite communities (Acariformes, Oribatida) inhabiting forest litter of recultivated areas in steppe zone conditions of Ukraine was performed. The role of the forest and forest floor litter in optimization of the ecological situation on degraded lands was demonstrated. The function of environment creation by oribatids, as primary destructors of dead plant matter, supporting such ecosystem services as soil fertility improvement and nutrients turnover was highlighted. The research was performed within different stratigraphic types of bulk edaphotops in the recultivated plot of “Pavlogradskaya” colliery (Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine) planted with red juniper (Juniperus virginiana L.). Withdrawal and collection of mites was performed with thermoeclector. For determination of the domination structure in the mite communities, the Engelmann scale was used. Adaptive (morpho-ecological) groups of oribatid mites were diagnosed by Krivolutsky. It was established that the number of species of oribatid mites in the forest litter of the studied red juniper plantation varied from 16 to 25. Average density of oribatid mites varied from 4,720 to 25,327 ind./m2. Among such morpho-ecological groups as soil surface inhabitants, small soil pore inhabitants, deep soil forms, floor litter inhabitants and unspecified forms, identified in the coniferous litter, the share of unspecified forms increased from loess-like loam type (21% of total amount) to Calcic Chernozem types with different stratigraphy (41.0%, 70.0% and 70.4% accordingly). Deep soil forms in the forest floor litter of the studied red juniper plots were not identified for any of recultivation types. The obtained results expand our understanding of the role of oribatid mites in the processes of ecological rehabilitation of disturbed ecosystems in the conditions of modern nature management.

Highlights

Mining and all related activities are invariably associated with the disturbance of the top soil layer in their territories with unfavourable consequences for existence of biota, such as pollution with heavy metals of the atmosphere, water ecosystems and soils (Faly et al, 2017; Shulman et al, 2017)
Affiliation to certain morpho-ecological groups is the indicator of importance for each particular species of oribatid mite in the species structure of biocenosis, along with its abundance; frequency; rate of domination
Morpho-ecological groups of oribatids whose representatives were found in collected coniferous litter within the red juniper planation for four stratigraphic types of forest recultivation could be characterized as follows

Summary

Introduction

Mining and all related activities are invariably associated with the disturbance of the top soil layer in their territories with unfavourable consequences for existence of biota, such as pollution with heavy metals of the atmosphere, water ecosystems and soils (Faly et al, 2017; Shulman et al, 2017). Toxic compounds, which are contained in the tailings’ rock, can be transferred into water ecosystems, soil and atmosphere, which negatively impact biota and the human living environment (Benbrahim et al, 2004; Faly & Brygadyrenko, 2014) and, decrease human health potential (Pertseva et al, 2008; Lykholat et al, 2016). To reduce the negative impact of technogenesis on the environment, a series of measures for soil conservation and vegetative cover restoration is required (Khromykh et al, 2018; Lykholat et al, 2018a). One of the solutions for this problem is forest recultivation – a series of measures comprising forest cultivation on mine rock dumps and other lands, disturbed during extraction of mineral resources from deposits (Ibarra & de las Heras, 2005; Chibrik et al, 2016)

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Conclusion