Seasonal change of oribatid mite communities (Acari, Oribatida) in three different types of microhabitats in an oak forest

摘要

Oribatid mites are one of the most abundant groups of the gro und-dwelling mesofauna. They can be found in almost every terrestrial habitat all over the world and they are characterized by great species richnessand great number of individuals. In spite of that not enough is known about their behaviour on community level and their spatial and temporal pattern in different habitats of the world. In our present study the seasonal behaviour of oribatid mite communities was analysed in three types of microhabitats in a temperate deciduous forest: in leaf litter, soil and moss. Samples were collected ata given site ina year and a halfand the oribatid mite communities living there were studied on genus level along with the changes of meteorological factors characteristic ofthe area. The results show that corresponding to similar previous researches, the communities in our study do not have a seasonally changing, returning pattern either. Based on this, we can conclude that climatic differences and differences in other seasonally changing factors between the seasons do not have a significant role in the annualchange of co mmunities. Besides that we disco vered that the communities of the three microhabitats are not completely the same. It is the oribatid mite community of the moss which differs mostly fromcommunities in the leaf litter and in the soil. Our study calls attention among others to the fact thatco mpositional changes of the oribatid mite communities living all over the world and their causes are unclear to date