Oribatida (Acari) in grassy arable fallows are more affected by soil properties than habitat age and plant species

Abstract

Oribatid mites are one of the numerically dominant arthropod groups in soils. They play an important role in soil food webs via regulating the decomposition of organic matter and propagating microorganisms within the soil. To our knowledge, the influence of different plant functional groups on oribatid mites has not been studied in abandoned farmland with undisturbed succession before. The density and assemblage structure of oribatid mites in nine grassy arable fallows relative to three habitat age classes (2–3, 6–8, 12–15 years) and three selected plant species (legume: Medicago sativa, forb: Taraxacum officinale, grass: Bromus sterilis) were investigated in soil associated with single plants.Mite density declined marginally not significant with habitat age because of high abundances of the ubiquitous species Tectocepheus velatus sarekensis and Punctoribates punctum in young and mid-aged fallows and their subsequent decline in old fallows. Oribatid mite density and species assemblage were not affected by plant species. Only P. punctum had significantly higher densities in B. sterilis samples than in T. officinale samples due to a higher amount of fine roots. Distance-based linear models revealed that 65% of the variation in mite assemblage was explained by soil properties, soil type, exposition and geographic position, while habitat age was of minor importance. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that the mite assemblage was best explained by soil organic and microbial carbon, water content and pH.