Scientific Annals of the Danube Delta Institute (Sep 2006)
A survey of the edaphic mites fauna (Acari: Oribatida, Gamasina) from the main types of forest ecosystems in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve
Abstract
The paper discusses the results of some ample researches devoted to the oribatid and gamasid fauna from the main types of forests in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, namely natural protected forests, anthropic ecosystems and forest plantations.The faunistic list includes 140 species, 95 genera and 52 families of mites. We give the distribution of each species in the considered ecosystems. Our survey revealed that the plantations of Canada poplar and mostly in the forest affected by the human activities occurs a significant reduction of the richness of species comparatively in the natural forests. Out of the total number of species recorded, 117 are present in the soil of the natural forest, 72 of them being found only in these habitats. In plantations were recorded 62 species and in the anthropic ecosystems - 21, the lowest number of species. Among the recorded taxa are some hygrophilous and meso- hygrophilous species which were found only in the Danube Delta. Besides them was identified some rare or less cited species in other region of Romania and several new species. The specific composition of the fauna, taxonomic, zoogeographical and ecological spectrum was analyzed in this context.
