Comparison of adult oribatid mites (Acari, Oribatida) from three mountain forests in Poland: I. Abundance, biomass and species richness

Abstract

“Parasites present a fascinating array of life histories, from simple, straightforward life cycles…, to complex life cycles consisting of episodes of both sexual and asexual reproduction and several different developmental stages using a series of hosts. This range of life cycles would seem to provide an excellent opportunity to test some of the predictions of life-history theory. However, recent texts on life-history evolution (e.g. Roff 1992; Stearns 1992) have not included discussions of parasite examples…” (Poulin 1996).