| Summary: | The main scope of this thesis is to illustrate the validity of oribatid mites as tools for palaeoecological reconstructions. Palaeoecology studies the responses of past organisms to past environmental changes. This can be accomplished through the use of biological proxies, which are indicators of past conditions. The search for additional means of distinguishing climate change has only recently led to the use of other commonly found biological proxies such as tiny oribatid mites known as moss-mites. Oribatid mites are among the most numerous biological remains in anoxic sediments, yet until now oribatids have not been widely used due to the uncertainties about their present distribution and the lack of expertise to identify them to species level. This thesis contains four papers which provide evidence about how oribatid mites, when they are properly identified to species level and their background distribution is adequately known, can give useful additional and supporting information for reconstructing past habitat and environmental conditions. Paper I studied oribatid preferences and ecology in different habitats, mainly forested, in western Norway. One hundred and ninety two species were found of which 64 were new records for Norway. The species Chamobates borealis, Oppiella nova, Moritzoppia neerlandica, and Rhinoppia subpectinata characterised the oribatid communities of Betula, mixed, and Picea forest subsets. Deciduous forest oribatid communities were characterised by Achipteria coleoptrata, Acrotritria ardua, Ceratozetes gracilis, and Oribatella calcarata. Hemileius initialis, Nanhermannia dorsalis, C. borealis, Tectocepheus velatus, and Atropacarus striculus characterised wet habitats. In water-logged habitats, Limnozetes ciliatus, Mucronothrus nasalis, and Trimalaconothrus glaber dominated. Carabodes labyrinthicus, C. marginatus, Melanozetes mollicomus, and T. velatus characterised the oribatid community of the lichen and moss subset. The tree-line ecotone was dominated by the euryceous species H. ...
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