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Temporal fluctuations in oribatid mites indicate that density-independent factors favour parthenogenetic reproduction

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Abstract

We investigated the oribatid mite density, community structure and the percentage of parthenogenetic individuals in four different forest types across three regions in Germany in 2008 and once again in 2011. We compared temporal (inter-annual) fluctuations in population densities between sexually and parthenogenetically reproducing species of oribatid mites. We hypothesized that population densities in parthenogenetic oribatid mite species fluctuate more than in sexual ones. Further, we expected species composition and dominance of parthenogenetic species to differ between forest types and regions. Oribatid mite community structure did not differ between years but varied with forest type and region, indicating low species turnover in time. As hypothesized, temporal fluctuations were more pronounced in parthenogenetic as compared to sexual species. The percentage of parthenogenetic individuals was significantly higher in coniferous than in beech forests and significantly higher in Schorfheide-Chorin than in Hainich-Dün and Schwäbische Alb. The results indicate that parthenogenetic species flourish if populations are controlled by density-independent factors and dominate at sites were resources are plentiful and easily available, such as coniferous forests, and in regions with more acidic soils and thick organic layers, such as Schorfheide-Chorin. However, historical factors also may have contributed to the increased dominance of parthenogenetic species in the Schorfheide-Chorin, as this region was more heavily glaciated and this may have favoured parthenogenetic species. Overall, our study supports the hypothesis that parthenogenetic species benefit from the lack of density-dependent population control whereas the opposite is true for sexual species.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the managers of the three Exploratories, Kirsten Reichel-Jung, Swen Renner, Katrin Hartwich, Sonja Gockel, Kerstin Wiesner, and Martin Gorke for their work in maintaining the plot and project infrastructure; Christiane Fischer and Simone Pfeiffer for giving support through the central office, Michael Owonibi for managing the central data base, and Markus Fischer, Eduard Linsenmair, Dominik Hessenmöller, Jens Nieschulze, Daniel Prati, Ingo Schöning, François Buscot, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, Wolfgang W. Weisser and the late Elisabeth Kalko for their role in setting up the Biodiversity Exploratories project. The work has been (partly) funded by the DFG Priority Program 1374 “Infrastructure-Biodiversity-Exploratories” (MA2461/7-2). Field work permits were issued by the responsible state environmental offices of Baden-Württemberg, Thüringen, and Brandenburg (according to § 72BbgNatSchG). We thank Georgia Erdmann, Bernhard Eitzinger, Bernhard Klarner, Olga Ferlian for assistance in the field.

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  1. J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Straße 28, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Christian Bluhm, Stefan Scheu & Mark Maraun

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  1. Christian Bluhm
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Correspondence to Christian Bluhm.

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Bluhm, C., Scheu, S. & Maraun, M. Temporal fluctuations in oribatid mites indicate that density-independent factors favour parthenogenetic reproduction. Exp Appl Acarol 68, 387–407 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-015-0001-6

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