Water mites as potential long-term bioindicators in formerly drained and rewetted raised bogs |
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| Institution: | 1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization & Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;3. Zoige Peatland and Global Change Research Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hongyuan 624400, China;4. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China;5. School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China;1. Environmental Research Institute, North Highland College, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK;2. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Centre for Conservation Science, Etive House, Beechwood Park, Inverness IV2 3BW, UK;1. Upland Environments Research Unit, Geography, University of Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;2. Moors for the Future Partnership, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
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| Abstract: | Many environmental studies of restored peatlands focus on biogeochemical cycles, productivity and decomposition. However, changes in the composition and structure of invertebrate assemblages in restored bogs have received little attention. In the present study we describe effects of rewetting on the water mite faunas (Acari: Hydrachnidia) of four raised bogs located in northwestern Germany. All examined peatlands had been drained in the past, and two of them had been subjected to peat extraction. The examined sites had been rewetted 2, 12, 14 and 25 years prior to our surveys, and currently represent different stages of plant succession. With increasing age after rewetting, the vegetation developed more complex structure as defined by Sphagnum status, and water mite fauna became somewhat similar to the fauna in an undisturbed raised reference bog. Water mites were found almost exclusively in bogs 25 years after wetting, and in these bogs they occurred in sites with more complex vegetation structure. Because water mites have high demands on abiotic and biotic factors due to their complex life cycle (i.e., the larvae are parasites, and the nymphs and adults are predators), we can infer that their mere presence irrespective of species abundance and richness reflects positive effects of the rewetting measures conducted in peat bogs. |
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| Keywords: | Hydrachnidia Colonization Bog Peatland Restoration Conservation |
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