Epiphyte type and sampling height impact mesofauna communities in Douglas-fir trees

PeerJ

article

Alexander R. Young¹  Jesse E.D. Miller²  John Villella³  Greg Carey³  William R. Miller⁴ 

[1] Department of Forest and Natural Resource Management College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York;Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California;Siskiyou Biosurvey;Department of Biology and Chemistry, Baker University

关键词: Tardigrade;    Canopy;    Epiphyte;    Microfauna;    Microclimate;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5699

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Branches and boles of trees in wet forests are often carpeted with lichens and bryophytes capable of providing periodically saturated habitat suitable for microfauna, animals that include tardigrades, rotifers, nematodes, mites, and springtails. Although resident microfauna likely exhibit habitat preferences structured by fine-scale environmental factors, previous studies rarely report associations between microfaunal communities and habitat type (e.g., communities that develop in lichens vs. bryophytes). Microfaunal communities were examined across three types of epiphyte and three sampling heights to capture gradients of microenvironment. Tardigrades, rotifers, and nematodes were significantly more abundant in bryophytes than fruticose lichen or foliose lichen. Eight tardigrade species and four tardigrade taxa were found, representing two classes, three orders, six families, and eight genera. Tardigrade community composition was significantly different between bryophytes, foliose lichen, fruticose lichen, and sampling heights. We show that microenvironmental factors including epiphyte type and sampling height shape microfaunal communities and may mirror the environmental preferences of their epiphyte hosts.

【 授权许可】

CC BY