Differences of oribatid mite community and trophic structure between karst caves and surface different moss habitats

Abstract

In order to reveal the community characteristics and trophic structure of oribatid mites in different moss habitats in karst caves, the oribatid mites in the moss habitats of ground (GD), understory (US), cave wall (CW), surface shrub (SB) and farmland (FL) outside the cave were collected in October 2021. Through the identification and data analysis of oribatid mites, 2352 oribatid mites were found, belonging to 45 families and 72 genera, most of which were Gymnonota. The family number, genus number, individual number, individual density, dominant genus composition, community diversity, community similarity, MGP (Analysis methods for ecological groups of oribatid mites) ecological group of oribatid mites and trophic structure of oribatid mites in different moss were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) The number of families, genera, individuals, and individual density of SB and FL are higher than those of the other three habitats; (2) Platyliodes, Oppiella, Tectocepheus, Scutovertex, Scheloribates and Trichogalumna are the dominant genera of the oribatid mites in the cave moss habitat, among them, Tectocepheus and Trichogaluna have the most obvious advantages; (3) The diversity index of shrub (SB) was higher than that of other four habitats; Similarity between ground and cave wall, shrub and farmland is high; (4) The MGP ecological group of oribatid mites in different habitats is dominated by O type (Overall type belongs to MGP analysis results, 20%≤M,G,P≤50%), and a total of 42 genera of oribatid mites preliminarily constitute the trophic structure of oribatid mites in the cave moss habitat. Based on the above results, it can be concluded that there are differences in the community structure of oribatid mites in different moss habitats in the study area, and the use of dominant genera of mites can preliminarily indicate the environmental conditions of different moss habitats. This study enriches the study of mites in karst cave mosses, and can provide theoretical significance for the protection of cave biodiversity in karst areas.