Ecology and biogeography of oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal

Abstract

The oribatid mite populations in the soils of typical habitat types at the Ribeira de Aljezur, Western Algarve in Portugal, are presented with the main objective to detect a synecological structure in relation to habitat types. Five mite communities can be discriminated by means of a correspondence analysis and of the specific abundance values in the habitats: Communities in (1) salt marsh sites in the estuary river zone, (2) a dune meadow, (3) a sandy dune area with low shrubs, (4) coastal bush-land on rocky substrate, (5) a floodplain forest in the limnic river zone. The communities on dune and rocky substrates are less distinct. Ecological preferences and biogeographical distributions of all species are presented and discussed. This actual publication contributes 30 further species, recorded in Portugal for the first time. Altogether, the Portuguese oribatid fauna includes 253 documented species now. From the 28 Iberian species of the current contribution, 14 species are endemic for Portugal. Ten of these species are described originally from the presented material from the area of Ribeiro de Aljezur.