Increasing harvest intensity shifts mite community composition but not diversity in Patagonian woodlands

FERNÁNDEZ, MARGARITA; BEDANO, JOSÉ CAMILO; EISSENSTAT, DAVID ; KAYE, MARGOT; GARIBALDI, LUCAS

Congreso; Mixed Forest 2020; 2020

Aboveground-belowground interactions are fundamental to maintaining ecosystem services in managed forests. Still, a lack of consideration of soil biota as ecological indicators of sustainable forest management is widespread. We randomly applied four levels of harvest intensity (0, 30, 50, and 70% of basal area removal) of trees and shrubs to experimental plots in three contrasting woodland sites of northern Patagonian (Argentina). We tested the effects of harvest intensity on the abundance and diversity of mites using mixed-effects models and multivariate analysis. Total abundance in two forest strata (soil and litter) had a linear and negative relationship as harvest intensity increased. Increasing harvest intensity reduced mite abundance up to 60% in litter and 20% in soil. The relative importance of the site, year, and the strata (soil or litter) varied among mite suborders. Oribatid showed a negative response with increasing harvesting intensity. Mesostigmata response to harvest intensity depended on site and strata. Multivariate analysis showed that richness and alpha diversity were similar for the different treatments (p>0.05). However, beta diversity suggested a significant dissimilarity of Oribatida communities for the different harvesting intensities (p