Author/Authors :
مروانيدزه، مکا نويسنده University of Georgia Murvanidze, Maka , موملادزه، لوان نويسنده Ilia State University Mumladze, Levan
Abstract :
We studied oribatid mite diversity in two sites of virgin Pleistocene forests in Borjom-Kharagauli National Park in Georgia. The aim was to explore the effects of microhabitat
and tree species on the composition and the relative abundance of oribatid mites.
Investigations revealed high species richness (96 species in total) with community
composition varying according to the microhabitat type. Carabodes tenuis Forsslund,
1953 was registered for the first time for Caucasian fauna. Soil and canopy (twig)-dwelling oribatid communities comprises rather distinctive groups unlike moss and litter.
No difference was observed between moss and litter dweller mites. One species, Camisia
horrida (Hermann, 1804), was found only in canopy samples, but was very rare.
Poroliodes farinosus (C.L. Koch, 1840), Carabodes labyrinthicus (Michael, 1879) and
Phauloppia rauschensis (Sellnick, 1908) were found frequently in canopy habitats, with
P. rauschensis abundant on tree twigs and almost absent from forest floor. The presence
of beech trees (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) was correlated with the number of species per
site. The results showed that geographic distance between sites is an important
determinant in oribatid community composition and can have stronger effects than a
microhabitat type.
