Effects of root and leaf litter identity and diversity on oribatid mite abundance, species richness and community composition

Habitat heterogeneity is an important driver of aboveground species diversity but few studies have investigated effects on soil communities. Trees shapetheir surrounding by both leaf litterand roots generating small scale heterogeneity and potentially governing community patterns of soil organisms. To assess the role of vegetation for the soil fauna, we studied whether tree species ( Fagus sylvaticaL., Acer pseudoplatanusL., Fraxinusexcelsior L., Tilia cordataMill.), markedly differing in leaf litterquality and root associated mycorrhizal symbionts, affect oribatid mitecommunities by shaping below- and aboveground resources and habitat complexity and availability. Oribatid miteabundance, species richness, community structureand the proportion of litterliving and parthenogenetic individuals were analyzed and related to microbial biomass and the amount of remaining littermass. Although leaf litterspecies with higher nutritional values decomposed considerably faster, microbial biomass only slightly differed between leaf litterspecies. Neither root species nor leaf litterspecies affected abundance, species richness or community structureof oribatid mites. However, root species had an effect on the proportion of parthenogenetic individuals with increased proportions in the presence of beech roots. Overall, the results suggest that identity and diversity of vegetation via leaf litteror roots are of minor importance for structuring oribatid mitecommunities of a temperate forestecosystem.