Oribatid communities (Acari: Oribatida) associated with bird’s nest ferns (Asplenium nidus complex) in a subtropical Japanese forest – a mini-review

Abstract

We reviewed the community structure of oribatid mites associated with bird’s nest ferns in a subtropical Japanese forest, and seven trends became clear: (1) most of the bird’s nest ferns on live trees occurred on host-tree species that typically grew in high density and/or large basal area in the forest, and they preferred concave slopes;(2) the amount of accumulated litter in the bird’s nest ferns was positively correlated only with fern size; (3) there was a significantdifference between the communities of oribatid mites between the litter and root components of bird’s nest ferns; (4) oribatid communities in the bird’s nest ferns were relatively insensitive to the spatial distribution of the fern in the subtropical forest, however, the density of oribatid mites in the litter decreased significantly with increasing height of the ferns above the ground; (5) species diversity of oribatid communities in the ferns was significantly lower than in the bark of trunks or the forest-floor litter and soil; (6) the oribatid faunas in the litter and roots of the ferns were more similar to those in both the forest-floor litter and soil than to the faunas in the other arboreal habitats; (7) presence of bird’s nest ferns can enhance species richness of oribatid mites in the arboreal environment, but presence of the ferns might not always raise species richness of oribatid mites at the whole-forest scale, including the forest-floor habitats, because the species composition of oribatid communities in the ferns was very similar to that in the forestfloor habitat.