Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2021 number 2

Seashore habitats of the Shokalsky Island (73є N) in the Kara Sea, Arctic Ocean, is shown to support at least 33 soil mite species, 7 of which predominate. We analyzed the species distributions in soil samples taken at three levels of marine marsh. Upon mite extraction, the following parameters were determined in soil cores: salinity, granulometric composition, carbon and nitrogen contents, and the condition of the plant cover. Both mite species diversity and total abundance increase from lower to higher marsh levels. CCA ordination revealed that the distribution of the mycetophagous littoral-dweller, Ameronothrus nigrofemoratus , depends on soil salinity. The distribution patterns of Svalbardia paludicola , Scutacarus offaliensis , Steneotarsonemus arcticus and two Arctoseius species seem to primarily be determined by drainage intensity through choosing sandy grounds. The distributions of the mite species that prefer the highest level of salt marsh depend first of all on either phytomass content (most species) or the concentration of major biogenic elements ( Nanorchestes cf. gilli , Eustigmaeus cf. tjumeniensis , Cheilostigmaeus longisetosus ) in soil samples. The CCA model accounts for 80.5 % dispersion of the data. A comparative analysis of the species structure of mite communities indicated the assemblage of the highest marsh level (with a considerable moss storey) as being the most diverse and special. The acarocenoses formed under different plant associations of distinct marsh levels (ass. Puccinellietum phryganodis and ass. Caricetum subspathaceae ), but on similar clay grounds appeared to be the most similar, this probably being due to close inundation times caused by drainage conditions.