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Oribatid mite communities along an elevational gradient in Sairme gorge (Caucasus)

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Abstract

Many aboveground animals and plant communities have been studied along elevational gradients whereas studies on soil animals are scarce. Here, we studied oribatid mite community distribution along an elevational gradient from 600 to 2200 m in forest ecosystems of the Western Lesser Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. Overall, 86 oribatid mite species were found at the study sites. Oribatid mite densities were generally low (~9800 ind./m2), and 74 % of all species reproduced sexually indicating that resource conditions at the study sites are generally poor. Oribatids mainly comprised Brachypylina (76 %), Mixonomata (13 %), Desmonomata (6 %) and Enarthronota (5 %). Oribatid mite community structure changed along the elevational gradient and the changes correlated with temperature, pH, litter thickness and density of the herb layer. The dominance of sexually reproducing taxa and low overall abundance indicate that the studied elevational gradient is characterized by poor resource conditions for soil microarthropods. Oribatid mite species richness and density declined with elevation suggesting that decreasing temperature in concert with resource limitation is a main driver of oribatid mite communities whereas stochastic factors (such as mid-domain effects) are of minor importance.

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Acknowledgments

The field work of L. Mumladze was supported by the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) foundation. We would like to thank Zezva Asanidze for helping in the field work and Mary Shalamberidze for measuring of soil pH (students of Ilia State University). We thank Prof. Stefan Scheu and reviewers for useful comments and suggestions on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology of Ilia State University, Cholokashvili Ave 3/5, 0165, Tbilisi, Georgia

    Levan Mumladze

  2. Invertebrate Research Centre (IRC), Agladze St. 26, 0119, Tbilisi, Georgia

    Levan Mumladze & Maka Murvanidze

  3. Institute of Entomology of Agricultural University of Georgia, 13 km Aghmashenebeli Alley, 0131, Tbilisi, Georgia

    Maka Murvanidze & Meri Salakaia

  4. JFB Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Str. 28, 37073, Göttingen, Germany

    Mark Maraun

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  1. Levan Mumladze
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Correspondence to Levan Mumladze.

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Mumladze, L., Murvanidze, M., Maraun, M. et al. Oribatid mite communities along an elevational gradient in Sairme gorge (Caucasus). Exp Appl Acarol 66, 41–51 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-015-9893-4

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