Author/Authors :
Moghaddam Mohammad نويسنده 2Professor, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor, respectively, Dept. of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran , Hashemi Khabir Zahra نويسنده Department of Plant Protection - Faculty of Agriculture - University of Tabriz, Tabriz , Haddad Irani Nejad Karim نويسنده Department of Plant Protection - Faculty of Agriculture - University of Tabriz, Tabriz , Khanjani Mohammad نويسنده Department of Plant Protection - Faculty of Agriculture - Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan
Abstract :
Oribatid mites are one of the richest acarine groups that occur in soil, litter, moss,
lichen, and rarely aquatic environments. They are actively involved in decomposition of
organic matters, in nutrient cycling and in soil formation (Pande & Berthet 1973;
Bayoumi & Al-Khalifa 1996). Currently, almost 10,000 oribatid species, representing
172 families, have been described (Schatz 2002, 2004; Sub?as 2004; Norton & Behan-
Pelletier 2009), while estimates of the real world oribatid fauna range from 50,000?
100,000 species (Schatz & Behan-Pelletier 2008). There is little information on the
oribatid mite fauna of Iran. The oribatid mite fauna of rangelands in West Azerbaijan
province, Iran, was studied in Ghooshchi, Ghasemloo, Marmishoo and Ordooshahi
areas by taking soil samples at three different times (mid-May, mid-August and mid-
