The first report on the oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) in tundra of the Chunatundra Mountains on the Kola Peninsula, Russia

• Main Author: Leonov, Vladislav D.
• Other Authors: A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, 119071, Russia.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Animalia; Arthropoda; Acari; Aacriformes; mountain tundra; lichen tundra; dwarf shrub tundra; wet tundra; sphagnum bog; community structure; fauna of the tundra; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Kola Peninsula; kola peninsula; Tundra; Mite
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02957854; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02957854/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02957854/file/Acarologia-2020-60-722-734.pdf

International audience The aim of this research was to obtain initial data on the fauna and abundance of the oribatid mites from the main types of the mountain tundra habitats of the Chunatundra Mountains. Four plots, including two lichen tundra plots, one dwarf shrub tundra plot and one sphagnum bog in the belt of mountain tundra were investigated. Multidimensional scaling and discriminant function analysis were used to identify trends in the fauna and abundance of oribatid species through the explored plots. A total of 70 species and one subspecies from 37 genera and 24 families were found during the course of this investigation. Nine species, one subspecies, one genus and one family of oribatid mites have been added to the fauna of the Kola Peninsula. The families Brachychthoniidae, Oppiidae and Suctobelbidae are the most diverse in the discovered local fauna. According to literature data, the first two families are characteristic of the low tundra communities, the third family is more common for the boreal zone. The discovered oribatid fauna is similar to the fauna of other tundra sites of the Kola Peninsula studied previously and is significantly different to the local oribatid mite faunae of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The abundance of the adult oribatid mites reached 39 080 ind./m2 in the lichen tundra and 56 200 ind./m2 in the dwarf shrub tundra. The minimum abundance of oribatid mites, 18 640 ind./m2 was found in the sphagnum bog. Differences in the oribatid mite complexes of lichen tundra, dwarf shrub tundra and the sphagnum bog were found. The species Carabodes labyrinthicus, Nothrus borussicus, Sellnickochthonius immaculatus, Mycobates sarekensis, and Tectocepheus velatus were associated with the lichen tundra habitats. Nanhermannia sellnicki, Chamobates borealis and a few species of Oppiella and Suctobelbella were associated with the dwarf shrub tundra. Mucronothrus nasalis, Limnozetes ciliatus, Platynothrus peltifer, Trimalaconothrus foveolatus, Limnozetes cf. rugosus, and Trimalaconothrus maior ...