PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 30: Invertebrate Ecology
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Analysis of soil oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida) communities as to differences of microenvironment in Mt. Jumbong, Nature Reserve Area in Korea.

LEE, JOON-HO¹, KANG, BANGHUN^*,2, CHOI, SEONG-SIK³, ¹ Seoul National University, Seoul, Rep. of Korea² National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, Suwon, Rep. of Korea³ Wonkwang University, Iksan, Rep. of Korea

ABSTRACT- Analysis of oribatid mite community in soil was conducted at the northeast- and southwest-facing slopes, which were adjacent to each other but with different vegetation structures, in Mt. Jumbong from June 1994 to Aug. 1996. Mt. Jumbong is a nature reserve area in Korea. Oribatid mite species compositions and their densities were significantly different between the two slopes (t-test, p<0.05). Mean density and species number collected at the northeast- and southwest-facing slope were 92.2±17.6, 234.2±62.6 and 24.7±3.0, 40.8±5.8, respectively. Species diversity index (H′) was higher at the southwest-facing (3.09±0.11) than at the northeast-facing slope (2.71±0.13). Trichogalumna nipponica was a dominant species at the southwest-facing slope but this species was not collected at the northeast-facing slope. Most of dominant species at two slopes were microphytophagous species, which feed on soil microorganisms. We discuss the environmental factors determining the distribution of soil oribatid mite in forest area.

Key words: oribatid mite, diversity, environmental factor