Species diversity of soil mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) under different agricultural land use types

Mites are among the most important members of soil arthropod communities, because they are the most diverse in terms of ecological niche and behavior. Due to the sensitivity of soil mites to soil disturbance, their diversity and numbers can be used as ecological indices for assessing disturbances in ecosystems. To determine the effect of land use type on soil mite biodiversity, abundance and biodiversity indices of soil inhabiting mesostigmatic mites were evaluated at eight sites in Saman and Shahrekord, Iran, each site including two adjacent agricultural pieces of land: an orchard and a crop field. The biodiversity of mites was measured by several biodiversity indices and then compared by analysis of variance. The specimens collected belonged to 12 families, 17 genera and 24 species. The biodiversity index values calculated in different months showed that these indices were usually higher in warm months and in orchards than in cold months and crop fields. In the examined crop fields, the diversity index values were lower after harvesting, probably due to soil disturbance by agricultural machinery. There was a significant difference in the Shannon-Wiener's diversity index among different land uses. The maximum and minimum values of this index were recorded at the vine orchard (1.48) and wheat field (0.15) in an elm/wheat site at Shahrekord, respectively. The soil organic matter content was maximum in the vineyard (2.12%) and minimum in the wheat field (0.41%).