How land-use intensity affects sexual and parthenogenetic oribatid mites in temperate forests and grasslands in Germany.

ABSTRACT: Intensive land use has been shown to alter the composition and functioning of soil communities. Due to their low dispersal ability, oribatid mites are particularly vulnerable to land-use intensification and species which are not adjusted to management-related disturbances become less abundant. We investigated how different land-use parameters in forests and grasslands affect oribatid mite diversity and abundance, with a focus on: (1) species-level impacts, by classifying species as increasing ('winners') or decreasing ('losers') in abundance with higher land-use intensity, and (2) reproductive impact, by investigating whether sexual and parthenogenetic species react differently. We collected 32,542 adult oribatid mites in 60 forests and grasslands of known land-use intensity in two regions

SUBMITTER: Wehner K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7940294 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature