Oribatid communities (Acari: Oribatida) associated with bird’s nest ferns (Asplenium nidus complex) in a subtropical Japanese forest – a mini-review

Abstract

We reviewed the community structure of oribatid mites associated withbird's nest ferns in a subtropical Japanese forest, and seven trendsbecame clear: (1) most of the bird's nest ferns on live trees occurredon host-tree species that typically grew in high density and/or largebasal area in the forest, and they preferred concave slopes; (2) theamount of accumulated litter in the bird's nest ferns was positivelycorrelated only with fern size; (3) there was a significant differencebetween the communities of oribatid mites between the litter and rootcomponents of bird's nest ferns; (4) oribatid communities in the bird'snest ferns were relatively insensitive to the spatial distribution ofthe fern in the subtropical forest, however, the density of oribatidmites in the litter decreased significantly with increasing height ofthe ferns above the ground; (5) species diversity of oribatidcommunities in the ferns was significantly lower than in the bark oftrunks or the forest-floor litter and soil; (6) the oribatid faunas inthe litter and roots of the ferns were more similar to those in both theforest-floor litter and soil than to the faunas in the other arborealhabitats; (7) presence of bird's nest ferns can enhance species richnessof oribatid mites in the arboreal environment, but presence of the fernsmight not always raise species richness of oribatid mites at thewhole-forest scale, including the forest-floor habitats, because thespecies composition of oribatid communities in the ferns was verysimilar to that in the forest floor habitat.